Crimson Arts Academy
by SunsetRoseWriter
Summary: (A modern day AU) After Darry gets a new job at this high-class boarding school, Ponyboy and his gang are able to attend for free. Once they arrive however, Ponyboy finds himself wrapped up in more drama than he bargained for. (Side Note: This is a multi crossover with S.E Hinton's other books).
1. The Arrival

**AN: Hello everyone, and welcome to my new story! Before we start I'd just like to say a few things. First of all, depending on how I update, this story may contain spoilers for "The Gold Girls" (Which is on hold at the moment). Second, This story is inspired by another story "Windrix Hall" by Zayhad over on Deviantart, so if you like, go and read her story too ;). Anyway, I've rambled enough, hope you enjoy my story.**

* * *

Ponyboy sighs as he leans his head against the back window of his brother's Ford truck, watching the cars, buildings, and trees pass by them as they drive.

Ponyboy, Darry, Soda, and Johnny are on their way to Crimson Arts Academy, where Darry has a new job, and where the rest of the gang will be attending school.

They had all broken up into groups and had taken different cars to get there: while Ponyboy, Johnny, Soda, and Darry are taking Darry's truck, Dally, Steve, and Two-Bit are taking their own cars.

Ponyboy adjusts one of his earbuds and drowns out the conversation between Johnny and Soda, they're talking about Crimson Arts. Pony never told anyone this, but he's beyond nervous to go to this school. And it doesn't help that Johnny has the school's brochure and is insisting on telling everyone about all of the cool things the school has.

Ponyboy's intimidated beyond belief because Crimson Arts is hands down one of the best schools in the country! And he and his friends are just a group of poor, troublemaking kids from the wrong side of the tracks.

From the corner of his eye, he sees Johnny pull out his phone and look at a text, "Dally's there." he says.

"How on Earth did he get there so fast?" Pony asks, turning to face Johnny.

Johnny merely shrugs, "I dunno, it's Dally, that's all I can say."

"What I want to know is how on Earth Dally made it into a school like this." Soda pipes up from the passenger seat, "I mean he's smart and all, but he breaks laws left and right!"

"Because it's the only school that'll take him," Darry says, "I read that Crimson Arts is big on...'second chances' if you will." He explains, doing the air quotes, "Apparently they sometimes take in bad kids that people pretty much give up on, and sorta straighten them out."

"So it's like some of those boys' schools?" Soda asks, "Where if the bad kid acts up they kinda smack 'em around?"

Everyone in the truck looks at Soda oddly.

"Yeah...sure." Darry says, making a left turn.

Ponyboy rolls his eyes slightly and he turns to stare out the window again, watching as fewer and fewer buildings, and more trees appear. He sits up a little straighter, ' _Are we leaving the city_?' he thinks, ' _I thought the school was in the city_.'

He looks around, no, he can tell they're still in the city because he can see buildings, but they're surrounded by trees.

Darry takes another turn and Ponyboy has enough time to catch a glimpse of a fancy neighborhood entrance sign that reads "Crimson Court".

When Darry turns on to Crimson Court, Ponyboy sees that it's sort of like a gated community, there are houses lined up against the road, nice houses at that. It's surrounded by trees also, Ponyboy feels like they're driving through the countryside instead of the city.

"Some Crimson Arts students and staff live here with their families, instead of staying at the dorms." Darry explains.

"Then why don't we just stay here?" Soda asks, looking at all the nice houses.

"Too expensive."

As they continue down Crimson Court, Ponyboy notices that there are fewer and fewer trees appearing, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, he looks toward the front window and sees that they're approaching a clearing.

"Now, I just want to let you know, while you're taking your tour, I'm going to be in the main office filling out some paperwork." Darry says as they reach the clearing and make a right turn.

"There it is!" Soda says excitedly.

Ponyboy and Johnny both lean over in their seats to catch a glimpse of the school, Ponyboy feels his eyes go wide, it's huge! And he's only looking at a part of it!

But as they drive closer, the school gets bigger, and bigger, until they reach the also very large parking lot.

"There's Dally." Johnny says as they pull into the lot. Dally's leaned up against the back of his car, smoking a cigarette.

"I should tell him there's no smoking on school grounds," Darry says as get gets out of the truck, "Even though he won't listen."

As Ponyboy gets out of the truck, he can't take his eyes off the front of the school, it has to be one of the biggest, and most beautiful schools he's ever seen.

"Hey Dally, how'd you get here so fast?" Johnny asks.

"Sped." Dally says simply, taking a drag of his cigarette.

"Of course you did." Darry says with a roll of his eyes, "And there's no smoking on school grounds, by the way."

"There's Steve and Two-Bit!" Soda says suddenly, pointing toward the entrance of the parking lot, where Two-Bit and Steve's cars are pulling in.

It's at this time that Ponyboy takes notice of the other vehicles in the parking lot, pretty much all of them are either brand new and clean, or very expensive.

He turns around to look at the vehicles he and his friends have: Darry has an older Ford pickup that belonged to their father, Dally has a banged up, red Nova, Steve has a white 80s Firebird, and Two-bit has a black beetle. Not to mention all of them are covered in dust.

Then he turns back to look at the other cars in the parking lot, a little ways away he sees an expensive looking Mustang that's such a bright blue he thinks it might put his eyes out, in another direction he sees a large black Ford Raptor that he finds more than a little intimidating, and a few rows away he sees a shiny red Corvette Stingray.

He can hear the guys having a conversation nearby, but he isn't focusing on them, he's now focusing on the front of the school. Sighing, he slowly makes his way toward the front.

As he walks toward the school, he looks around at the surroundings: the fence that's around the school is made of bricks but at the top there's fancy iron fencing, but when it reaches the pathway that leads up to the school, there's a gap with an iron archway above it, the archway has many fancy iron designs with a rose in the middle.

Pony walks through the entrance and looks around at the courtyard: the grass is a crisp green and is cut neatly, there are a few hedges in the middle of the yard and, against the school, there are huge bushes, covered with white roses.

Ponyboy grabs his elbow and gulps as he looks up at the school itself: it's a little over three stories high, and it's a unique shade of brown, Pony can't tell if it's made of wood or rock. There are white, marble steps leading up to two large double doors, with two marble columns that go all the way to the roof that has a large clock.

But what really seals the deal is the large, stained glass window that's above the doors, it's made mostly of shades of blue, but in the upper left corner of the window, there's a sun, and in the middle of the window, there's a white rose.

' _They sure make a big deal out of this rose_.' Pony thinks, looking around.

In the distance, he suddenly hears Soda, "Hey, where'd Pony go?"

"He's already making his way to the school." He hears Johnny say.

Ponyboy keeps staring at the school as he hears the others walk up behind him. Soda walks over and stands next to him, putting his arm around his shoulders, "It's a pretty school ain't it?" Soda asks.

"Y-yeah." Pony stutters out, while thinking, ' _More intimidating really_.'

They all walk up the marble steps and reach the two large double doors, ' _These doors are three times the size of our front door at home_.' Pony thinks. Darry steps in front of everyone and pushes one of the doors open, it doesn't creak like Ponyboy thought it would, it opens smoothly.

They all walk into the foyer and Ponyboy is once again in awe as he looks around the room. The walls are a dark red with red and gold banners, along with the school crest hung up, the floor is made of black and white tiles that you could see your reflection in, there are huge, dark wood stairs directly in front of them, more huge double doors mirroring the other ones, fancy trophy cases just filled to the brim with awards and small monuments, and there are fancy, gold chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling.

"Pony? You coming?"

Ponyboy snaps out of his little trance and looks at Soda, who is on the staircase along with the others, but the others have gone ahead. "Oh, uh, yeah! Yeah, I'm coming, sorry!" Pony stutters out, rushing up the stairs after Soda.

They walk up two flights of stairs before they reach the main office area, "We're supposed to go in here." Darry says, leading them down the long hallway to a door. When they head inside, Ponyboy looks around and sees that it's a counselor's office. He looks on the desk that's in the room and sees a nameplate that has "Anna Woods-Guidance Counselor" written on it.

"Like I said before, I'm going to be filling out some paperwork while you guys are on a tour of the school so you won't have to deal with any of that…" Darry suddenly looks at his watch "She said we were going to meet about now, I don't know why-"

Just as the words leave Darry's mouth, the door opens and two people walk into the office: A woman in her mid 20s with long brown hair and glasses, and a boy wearing the school uniform.

"My apologies for being late, I was having a difficult time finding a student who would give the tour." Ms. Woods explains as she walks over behind her desk.

"It's alright." Darry says.

"Anyway, this is Cameron Davidson." Ms. Woods says, nodding her head over at the boy, who is now standing by her desk, "He'll be giving you a tour of the school."

Cameron is about Steve or Soda's age, kind of tall with a slight build, black hair in a pompadour style, and brown eyes.

"Nice to meet you." Cameron says, nodding slightly.

"I assume they have everything they need?" Ms. Woods asks Darry suddenly.

"Yes, all they need is their schedules and dorm numbers, that's another reason why I'm here." Darry explains.

"We'll work on that. Mr. Davidson, you and the other boys can go while Mr. Curtis and I work out this information." Ms. Woods says to Cameron.

"Yes Ma'am." Cameron says, making his way to the door, he looks back at the others and nods his head, indicating them to follow.

As all of them leave Ms. Woods' office and walk back down the stairs, Soda starts up a conversation, "Thanks for giving us this tour Cameron!" he says cheerfully.

"I should be the ones thanking you," Cameron says, looking over his shoulder for a moment, "I get to get out of Physics for this." he chuckles as they come to the other set of large double doors in the foyer. He walks forward and pushes one of the doors open, allowing them into the school's courtyard.

Ponyboy can't help it, his jaw drops at the sight, unlike the front of the school, the other buildings are made of clean, red bricks, the concrete has a fancy, tile-like pattern and is almost white, there are benches around the edges of the court, along with a few potted evergreens, and right in the middle of the courtyard is a fountain.

"These two buildings are the core class buildings, ya know, English, Math, etcetera." Cameron explains gesturing to the two buildings on the sides of the courtyard, "And this building," He gestures to the building on the end of the courtyard, "Has the Culinary Arts class on the bottom, and the dining hall on the top."

"Convenient." Soda says, grinning.

Cameron leads them to the end of the courtyard, where there are two concrete paths, on either side of the Culinary building. "This path goes to the electives buildings," Cameron says, nodding to the path on the right, "The student dorms and apartments are also in that direction, and this path," he nods to the left path, "Leads to the...sports area: the gym, pool, track, ya know." Cameron rolls his eyes.

"This place is like a college." Pony says, looking around.

"Well buddy, it almost is, Crimson Arts collaborates with a few colleges, and there are a few college credit courses you can take." Cameron explains.

Pony is about to open his mouth, but is cut off by the bell, but it doesn't sound like a bell, it sounds like chimes.

"Oh, uh, I suggest we get against a wall." Cameron says, ushering them to the wall of the Culinary building, "We're gonna have to wait this out, the passing period can get pretty crazy here."

Sure enough, there were already a few students racing across the courtyard in order to avoid the upcoming wave of students. Pony watches as more and more students flood the courtyard, some rushing to get to class, some lollygagging with their friends, and some having a quick make out with their partners.

Ponyboy rolls his eyes and turns his head for a moment before he looks back so fast it almost hurts.

"Wow…" he breathes out.

He's looking at hands down the most beautiful girl he thinks he's ever seen: she has long, wavy blonde hair, bright green eyes, light tan skin, soft pink lips, and long straight legs that compliment her curves. She's wearing the girl's uniform along with white socks that go slightly past her knees, and black heels, and she's holding a black and pink messenger bag with a sequin covered heart and peace signs.

Cameron, who had heard Ponyboy say "Wow", looks at him, then follows his gaze, "Ah," he says, looking at Pony with a grin, "I see...Well, bud, you sure have great taste in ladies..."

Pony can't take his eyes off the girl as she crosses the courtyard, "I burn, I pine, I perish…" He breathes out, Cameron looks at him, "Of course you do… and uh, I hate to burst your bubble, but there's something you should know-"

Just as the words leave Cameron's mouth, a boy who has his knee up on one of the benches and is talking to his friends, grins and reaches over to pull the girl against him, wrapping his arm around her waist. Ponyboy draws back like he was slapped, ' _Of course_ ,' he thinks bitterly, ' _No girl that pretty would be single_.'

"Keep watching." Cameron says, seeing Ponyboy's expression.

Pony looks at Cameron for a moment, confused, before looking back just in time to see the girl wriggle from the guys grasp, glare and him and say something Pony can't hear before marching away.

"...What, just happened?" Ponyboy asks, confused.

"It's a long story, I'll tell you about it later," Cameron says, "Right now we gotta finish the tour."

* * *

After a quick tour of the rest of the school, the group makes their way back to Ms. Woods' office. "Ms. Woods, we're done with the tour." Cameron says as they enter the office.

"Thank you Mr. Davidson, you can head back to class."

Cameron says goodbye to Pony and the others before he picks up his bag and walks out of the office.

"Now boys," Ms. Woods says, picking some papers off her desk and handing one to everyone, "These are your schedules, you start your classes tomorrow, you can pick up your uniforms and dorm keys in the room at the end of the hall, and you can go get your things to move into your dormitories, if you have any questions just ask."

"Come on everyone." Darry says, leading them out of the office, "Thank you Ms. Woods." he adds.

"You're quite welcome Mr. Curtis." Ms. Woods says just before the door closes.

Ponyboy and the others make their way down the long hallway until they reach a door with a plaque that reads "Student Resource".

Darry walks forward again and knocks on the door, they all hear a slightly muffled "Come in", before Darry pushes the door open.

When they walk into the room, Ponyboy looks around: there are stacks of boxes each labeled with different contents, displays of the different uniforms hung up on the walls, along with the letterman jacket, sweaters, and t-shirts, advertising the different extra-curricular activities.

"One moment please." a voice says from the back of the room.

They all wait for a moment before a man in his mid-thirties, walks from the back and behind the desk that's at the front if the room.

"Sorry about that," the man says, "This place is always cluttered."

"Shoot man," Two-Bit says, cracking a grin, "You think this is messy? You should see our houses!"

' _Don't tell him that you idiot_!' Ponyboy thinks while halfway hiding behind Soda.

"So what can I help you with?" the man asks, overlooking Two-Bit's remark.

"We're here to pick up our uniforms and dorm keys." Darry says.

"Last names please?" the man asks.

"Curtis."

"Randle."

"Cade."

"Mathews."

"Winston."

The man whistles quietly before turning and walking into the back for a minute or so, before he comes back with a two-wheeled dolly stacked with boxes, "Here are your uniforms, you get five, the fifth's an extra because you don't have to wear your uniform Friday, everyone calls it 'Casual Friday'." the man explains, handing everyone a box.

"I'll get your keys, be only a moment." the man says before disappearing in the back once more.

"At least we don't have to wear these stupid uniforms _every_ day." Dally says, eyeing the display of the uniform on the wall.

"Yes, but you have to wear it most of the time so you better get used to it." Darry says just before the man comes back with a handful of keys.

"Let's see here...Curtis, Cade, Randle, Winston, and Mathews." the man says as he hands the gang their keys, "The room number is on the back. Is there anything else I can help you with?" he asks.

"No, we're good, thank you." Darry says

"Anytime." the man says as they turn and leave the room.

"Now, because you enrolled later than the other students, I had a difficult time finding dorm rooms so we had to improvise." Darry explains after they look at their room numbers, "Ponyboy, Johnny, you're going to be staying with Juniors."

"So none of us are going to be in the same dorm?" Pony asks, feeling slight panic build up.

"Don't worry Pone. Johnny and I are just down the hall, if you need anything don't be afraid to come get us." Soda says, clapping Pony on the shoulder.

Ponyboy doesn't say anything, he just nods and walks after the others.

"All we need to do now is get our stuff." Darry says as they start down the stairs again.

They quickly go to their cars to get their stuff and are on their way back when the bell rings, "That was the dismissal bell." Darry explains after looking at his watch, "For the younger kids anyway. A good amount of upperclassmen have evening classes that end at six instead of four-thirty."

"Do _we_ have evening classes, Dare?" Soda asks, gesturing to himself and the older guys in the gang.

"Not unless you signed up for them."

"Thank God." Soda sighs.

* * *

"You gonna head to your room Pony?" Soda asks as the gang makes their way up the dormitory stairs.

"Yeah," Pony says, "I'll see you guys later."

"Alright." Soda says cheerfully, "See ya, Pone."

"Bye Pony." Johnny says.

Pony just nods and continues his way down the hallway. As he walks down the hall, he looks around at the place: the walls are white and covered in posters, bulletin boards and a map of the dorm, the carpet is dark red, the doors are dark wood and by the doors are very small white boards, some have names of the students who live there, some have pictures and messages, and a couple don't have anything.

"Okay let's see...203, 204, 205!" he says, stopping at his dorm, he looks at the whiteboard next to the door to see who his dorm mate is, but all it says is 'knock before entering', "Figures." Pony mutters.

He puts one of his suitcases down and is about to reach into his pocket to get his key but stops, "I'll knock. Just to follow his wishes." he says, reaching up and knocking on the fancy wood door.

He picks up his suitcase again and waits politely for a moment before the door opens, and he comes face to face with Cameron Davidson. They stare at each other in shock for a moment before Cameron starts to laugh, "Well how about that, I knew I was getting a dorm mate but I didn't know it would be you, come in!"

Pony grins also before he walks into his dorm room and looks around, the dorm is a bit bigger than he expected, and is practically symmetrical, the floor is wood with a dark red rug, the walls are still white, and there's a desk in the middle of the room against a wall that's practically all window.

The left side of the dorm is blank, he takes a guess that it's his side of the dorm. He looks over at Cameron's side of the room: the wall has posters about technology, some bands, the school pendant, and some Shakespeare, his bed has a maroon blanket and a few white pillows on it, and there's a laptop sitting on his bed.

"Make yourself at home." Cameron says, sitting down on his bed.

Ponyboy sets his suitcases and backpack on the bed and opens them, pulling out his clothes, "There's a closet right there." Cameron says, pointing to said closet.

Ponyboy turns to the closet: it's a few feet away from the bed, it has a curtain-like door, which is open, some coat hangers, and a few clear drawers for shoes and accessories.

"Thanks." Pony says.

* * *

After a while, Pony finally has his clothes put up and is now putting up his posters and pictures, but he has to borrow some tape from Cameron.

"You sure do love sunsets don't ya?" Cameron asks, looking at all of Pony's sunset pictures.

"Yup." Pony says, picking up another poster.

As he finishes taping up the next poster, he looks out the window for a moment, and promptly does a double take, there she is again, the girl from earlier, she's walking toward the girls' dormitories.

"There she is again." Pony says, Cameron can't see out the window, but he knows who Pony is talking about, and he suddenly remembers something, "Oh yeah. I was gonna tell you about her wasn't I?"

Pony turns around and jumps off his bed, then sits down, "Yeah."

"Well, first of all, her name is Rainbow Swan, Freshman," Cameron starts to type something on his computer, "Hang on..." after a minute, Cameron shows Ponyboy his laptop: it's the school's website, and he's looking at the extra-curricular activities page.

"She's on the Gymnastics team, ribbon dancer." Cameron explains.

Ponyboy looks at the picture of the team and sees Rainbow in the middle of all the girls and, like the others, she's wearing a silver-y-white, sparkly leotard with her hair put up in a bun with a silver ribbon, and she's holding a rainbow ribbon in her hand, she's also the smallest girl there.

"What's her personality like?" Ponyboy asks, handing Cameron his laptop back.

"I'm not exactly sure, I don't have her in any of my classes, but from what I can gather, she's really nice, but shy."

Pony nods, "And that guy she was with earlier?"

Cameron rolls his eyes, "That was Jay Carlos, there are many words that describe him, I use the words, 'jerk' and 'moron'."

Ponyboy draws back slightly as Cameron continues, "He isn't Rainbow's boyfriend, she doesn't even like him, they went on a few dates and now the moron thinks he owns her." Cameron rolls his eyes again, "But at least he isn't as bad as Joey Don."

"Joey Don?" Pony asks in disbelief, "Like, Joey Donner, from _10 Things I Hate About You_?"

"Carbon copy." Cameron groans, "Ya know it's rumored that his father, Joey Don Sr, inspired the character?"

"No I didn't." Pony says.

"Anyway, we're getting off topic, Joey Don is hands down the biggest playboy in the school, he's been trying to get into Rainbow's pants ever since he laid eyes on her. Luckily for all of us who like and want to protect her, she hates his guts."

They both laugh, "Seems like she would love to date a model." Pony jests.

"To tell you the truth, Joey doesn't have the highest of popularity or respect, he's shallow and stupid, so if you cross him, it ain't a big deal, same goes for Jay."

Cameron suddenly turns serious, "However, there is one guy that you want to avoid crossings paths with at all costs...and that's Bob Sheldon."

"Who's he?"

Cameron pulls up a picture on his laptop and hands it to Ponyboy, "He practically runs the place, he has it all: Good looks, good grades, he's the football captain, he has money, a reputation, and no limits."

Ponyboy looks at Bob's picture, even in a picture he looks intimidating. He's standing in the middle of people who are all smiling at the camera.

Bob is the biggest guy there, he kind of resembles Darry in a way, he's tall, muscular, he has jet black, slightly shaggy hair, tan-ish skin, and narrow, cold, brown eyes so dark brown they're almost black.

"However," Cameron says suddenly, "Your girlfriend practically has him and his buddies wrapped around her finger, they all _love_ her, no one really knows why. But he and his gang hate Jay, cause they know what he's like."

"I'm guessing she's pretty popular also, seeing that Bob likes her so much."

"Yeah, she has a lot of friends, but she isn't the _most_ popular girl, because she keeps to herself and doesn't flaunt around, saying what people want her to say, pretending to be everyone's friend, like Bob's girlfriend."

Ponyboy nods and looks back at Bob, and he notices he has his arm wrapped around someone's shoulders, "Who's that standing next to him?"

"Oh, that's Randy Adderson, his best friend. Randy's probably the only sort of limit Bob and the others have."

Pony looks at Randy again: he's shorter and thinner than Bob is. He has light tan skin, big, light brown-ish hazel eyes, honey blonde hair that falls slightly past his shoulders, and a toned body with long legs. He looks a lot nicer than Bob, his eyes aren't hard and cold and his smile isn't cocky, he's holding up the peace sign with his fingers.

"He looks nice." Pony says, handing Cameron his laptop.

"He is, I say he's the nicest, and deepest guy in the group. He's _kind of_ a hippie but not really, I mean he wears his hair long, doesn't like fights, and wears a peace medal sometimes, but he's proper also, you can kinda see the 'hippie-ness' but it ain't over powering... or, in other words, he's a real laid back rich kid."

"...Yeah, I can see it." Ponyboy says, while thinking that Randy kind of looks like one of those 'California dream boats' girls fall all over.

"Okay, I think that's all of the important people for now...Hey, I just realized, what's your name? I never asked."

Ponyboy inwardly cringes before he says, "Ponyboy Curtis."

"Hmm, cool name."

"...Thanks." Pony says happily.

"Anyway, it's almost time for dinner, wanna head down?" Cameron asks, standing up.

"Yeah, I'm starving." Pony says, jumping up and following Cameron out of the room. As the two leave the dorm, Cameron turns back to face Ponyboy.

"Oh, I almost forgot ...Welcome to Crimson Arts Academy!"

* * *

 **AN: I'm planning on posting illustrations and character designs on Deviantart and/or Instagram someday, I'll let you guys know when I do.**


	2. Rainbow

**AN: Hi everyone, thank you so much for the positive feedback :)**

* * *

"Second period, art class." Pony says to himself as he leaves his first period class.

It's Ponyboy's first official day at Crimson Arts, and right now, he's trying desperately to figure out the school's hallways, and he's already gotten lost.

"Room 311...hope I don't get lost again." he mutters, pushing thought the tightly knit crowd of people.

Unfortunately, Ponyboy forgets that the art class is in the electives building, so he has to sprint across campus just to get to the building, and then look for his room, which isn't easy.

Luckily, he was on time with a couple of minutes to spare. He looks around the art room, which is a small auditorium, and he walks up to the teacher, Ms. Holly: she's a woman in her early thirties with wavy rusty colored hair and hazel eyes.

"Excuse me," Pony says, walking up to Ms. Holly, "I'm the new student."

"Oh, of course, let me see your schedule." Pony hands her the schedule and she looks it over, before nodding and handing it back to him, "Okay Ponyboy, we have a seating arrangement, so let me see if I can find you a seat..."

As Ms. Holly looks for a seat for Pony, he notices that a lot of the kids are looking at him, most likely because he's new and nobody recognizes him.

"Alright Ponyboy, there's an empty seat right over there." she points with her pen to a seat a few rows up.

"Thank you." he says, walking up the stairs toward his seat. When he gets there, he notices that there's a bag by the seat next to him, and a book on the desk. He sits down in his seat and reaches into his bag to get a pencil. As he's doing so, he hears the bell ring and from the corner of his eye he sees someone sit next to him.

When he sits up straight and turns his head he feels as though he were mentally slapped.

It's Rainbow.

He feels his face grow hot and he looks at his desk hastily. ' _Oh my god_ , _oh my god_ , _she's right there_!' he thinks. Carefully, he looks over at her, but she doesn't even seem to notice, she's reading her book.

He looks at her book closely and sees that it's _The Pearl_ by John Steinbeck, he grins, then, before he can stop himself, "That's a good book."

Rainbow jumps slightly and looks at him, "Huh?" she asks.

Pony feels his face go hot again, "The book you're reading, it's a good book."

Rainbow looks at him for a moment before she grins, "I know, I've read it multiple times already."

Ponyboy grins and decides to continue the conversation, "Have you read his other stuff?"

Rainbow nods excitedly, "Yeah, have you?"

"Only _The Grapes of Wrath_." Pony admits.

"Ooh, I love that one! You should read _Of Mice and Men_ , that one's good too!"

"Alright everyone settle down!" Ms. Holly announces, "Now, today, we're going to be making landscapes. I know for some of you landscapes aren't the most fun to draw, but, this will help you when you want to add a background to a picture, or illustrate a scene in a book or a movie."

Ponyboy leans forward in interest, he likes how Ms. Holly is making things so interesting. He glances at Rainbow and sees that all of her attention is directed toward Ms. Holly

"Today you're going to be brainstorming, and creating a quick rough draft. You're going to be able to use any medium you wish, I would recommend you use something you don't use often, so you can hone your skills...now, any questions?" The room is silent, "Alright, if you need anything, just ask."

After Ms. Holly's instructions, the class gets to work. Ponyboy reaches back into his bag and pulls out a few sheets of blank paper, and he sees Rainbow pull out a sketchpad and a pair of pink and white headphones. She puts them around her neck and plugs them in to a pink iPod Shuffle that's clipped to her lapel.

"I like your headphones." Pony blurts out, Rainbow looks at him again and smiles, "Thanks, I got them for my birthday." She says.

After that there's an awkward silence, "...So, what are you gonna do for your project?" Rainbow asks after a minute.

"Hm? Oh...I'm not sure what I want to draw exactly, but I know I want to draw a sunset." Pony explains, remembering his love for sunsets.

Rainbow smiles again, "I was thinking that too, I want to draw a sunset, but I also want to draw a starry night."

"You like stars?" Pony asks, trying to hide his excitement.

"I love them, I have a book in my dorm that's all about constellations."

"That's cool!"

The two talk about their interests for a few minutes before they start to work on their art projects, "What Medium are you gonna use?" Pony asks, looking over at Rainbow's brainstorm.

"I'm thinking of using pastels, I've used them before, they're really good at blending, and I need blending for the sunset."

Ponyboy grins at Rainbow's knowledge of art supplies and sunsets, "What about you...uh... I'm sorry, what's your name?" Rainbow asks, her cheeks turning a faint pink.

"It's Ponyboy, Ponyboy Curtis."

Rainbow smiles at his name, "Unique name...I like it. My name is Rainbow, Rainbow Swan."

"It's nice to meet you Rainbow." Ponyboy says with a smile.

Rainbow smiles back at him, "It's nice to meet you too Ponyboy."

After class, Ponyboy and Rainbow leave the room together, "What do you have next?" Rainbow asks, looking at his schedule.

"Uh...English, what about you?"

"French...Maybe I'll see you during lunch or another class." Rainbow says, slightly disappointed.

As the two continue to walk down the hall, they hear, "Hey Baby!"

"Oh no." Rainbow groans. Suddenly, an arm wraps around her shoulders, causing her to stop walking, Ponyboy stops also and turns around, sure enough, it's Jay. Ponyboy looks at him, able to see how he looks close up,

Jay is a couple of years older than Ponyboy and Rainbow, he has light skin, brown eyes, a turned up nose, and black hair that's combed back and is spiked in the back. He has broad shoulders, he's thin and kind of lanky, and he has a big head...he kind of looks like the old actor, Warren Beatty, when he was younger.

"Haven't seen you in a while, where've you been?" Jay purrs, messing with a lock of

Rainbow's hair.

"Class," Rainbow says, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice, "And I saw you at breakfast, remember?"

Jay laughs, "Oh yeah," then he rests his chin on her shoulder, "I guess time goes slower when I'm not with you."

It takes all of Ponyboy's strength not to groan and roll his eyes, but by now Jay's finally noticed him, and he's kind of giving him the stink eye.

"Who's this?" He asks snottily, giving Ponyboy a once over.

"He's new here, his name's Ponyboy." Rainbow explains.

"Ponyboy?" Jay asks, making it clear he thinks 'Ponyboy' is the most ridiculous name he's ever heard, seeming to forget the fact that his "girlfriend's" name is 'Rainbow'.

"Jay!" Rainbow hisses, kind of hitting him in the chest, Jay quickly regains himself and puts a plastic smile on his face, "Well, I hope you like it here."

Ponyboy just nods "Well, I gotta go, I'm gonna be late for class." he says, "I'll see ya later Rainbow."

"Bye Ponyboy." Rainbow calls after him, "Jay, let me go, I'm gonna be late for class." Rainbow groans, trying to wriggle from Jay's grip.

"Aw, come on Bow, let me walk with you, I don't like third period anyway."

Rainbow sighs and continues to walk down the hallway with Jay practically glued to her hip, wishing that she was still talking to Ponyboy.

After third and fourth period, Ponyboy meets up with Cameron and they make their way to the dining hall.

"So how's your day been so far?" Cameron asks as they ascend the the stairs leading toward the dining hall.

"Alright I guess...I met Jay, you were right, he _is_ a jerk, and it's obvious Rainbow doesn't like him."

Cameron groans, "Yeah, he's the type of guy that clings to any girl he gets his hands on, and then refuses to let her go, despite the fact that she doesn't like him."

"I know that type, there's this girl in my old town named Angela, and she was like that, she would throw herself at me and refuse to leave me alone, despite the fact that I don't have feelings toward her."

The two reach the balcony, Ponyboy looks around: you get a very good view of the school from the balcony, and you can see the city in the distance, on the balcony are what look like fancy picnic tables made of dark wood, they're thick and look heavy.

Pony starts to walk toward the entrance, but is suddenly stopped by Cameron, who pulls him to the side, "Hold on, look who's comin'." he says. Pony looks at Cameron, confused for a moment before he follows his gaze, and suddenly understands why Cameron is acting oddly.

Bob Sheldon is headed in their direction, and Ponyboy can't help but feel nervous, he's much more intimidating in person. Bob takes long strides and doesn't seem to pay any attention to anyone, and he has an expression that kind of says, 'I run this place and I don't care about anything'. That's when Ponyboy notices a hint of gold on Bob's fingers. Looking closer, Pony sees that Bob is wearing rings, three, heavy, gold rings that sort of resemble brass knuckles.

He passes by them without sparing them a glance, and is followed shortly by Randy and four other guys.

"Holy crap." Pony says, watching Bob and his gang walk into the dining hall, "You were right, I definitely don't want to cross him."

Cameron nods and the two continue into the dining hall.

Once they're inside, Ponyboy once again looks around the dining hall, he saw it last night and this morning, but he can't help but still be in awe: the walls are made of white marble-looking stone, with windows all around, and the floor is made of white marble tiles, a high ceiling with large, gold chandeliers hanging from it, and the same tables that are outside are lined up throughout the entire hall.

"C'mon, let's go get our food." Cameron says walking to the end of the hall, where the buffet is.

"I never asked, who makes the food?" Pony asks as he grabs his plate.

"Oh, Crimson Arts has chefs in the kitchen, one of the chefs is the Culinary Arts teacher, Ms. Hills." Cameron explains, getting himself a finger sandwich.

After Ponyboy and Cameron get their food, they look around for a place to sit, they don't have to wait long, because from all the way across the hall, Two-Bit stands up and waves them over, "Hey, Ponyboy, over here!"

A lot of kids turn to look at them, and all Ponyboy wants to do is crawl under the floor.

"Guess we're sitting over there." Cameron says as he and Pony make their way over to where Two-Bit and the others are.

As everyone eats their lunch, Ponyboy suddenly hears loud, slightly obnoxious laughter from across the hall, looking up, he sees that it's Bob and his gang again: Bob is sitting on the table with his leg up on the seat, with Randy sitting next to him, sitting backward on the seat, grinning as Bob continues to say whatever he was saying before.

Then he hears Jay's voice, his head whips around to see if he's bothering Rainbow again, but he isn't, he's with his buddies, laughing and joking around. ' _Then where's Rainbow_?'

Cameron looks over at Pony and then looks around the room himself, "If your looking for Rainbow," he says, taping Pony on the shoulder, "She's over there."

Pony looks over to where Cameron is nodding his head. Leaning over in his seat slightly, Ponyboy sees Rainbow walking toward a group of girls: One has curly black hair that falls around her shoulders and dark green eyes, another has dark brown hair that's tied back in a ponytail and gray eyes, and the last one has short black hair and dark blue eyes. They all smile as she approaches.

"I'm guessing that's Rainbow's crowd." Pony says as Rainbow sits with the girls.

"One of 'em." Cameron says, taking a sip of his drink. Ponyboy looks at him and blinks, "One of 'em?" he asks.

"Yeah, I've seen her float from group to group: sometimes she sits with those girls, sometimes she sits with Bob and his buds, and sometimes she sits with her gymnastics friends, she doesn't stay with one group for too long."

' _She's a social butterfly_ ,' Ponyboy thinks, watching Rainbow talk with her friends, ' _And Cameron said she was shy_ , _she ain't shy_.'

After lunch, everyone files out of the dining hall. Cameron and Ponyboy are pushing through the crowd of people before they reach a slight clearing and they're able to walk faster for a moment, that is until Cameron walks right into a girl, causing one of her books to fall from her hands, "Hey!" She yells.

The girl he had walked into is a few years older than them, she's muscular, and has light orange/strawberry blonde hair that's tied into a braid, sharp, dark blue eyes, and a slightly rounded face. She isn't wearing the regular girl's uniform with a skirt, she's wearing pants.

She picks up her book before looking at Cameron with a glare, "Word of advice, look both ways, and pull your head out of your ass before you walk. Okay?" She snaps, before marching away.

Ponyboy blinks and stares after the girl, then turns back to Cameron, "You okay?" he asks. Cameron rolls his eyes, "Yup, just an encounter with Rew Stratford." Cameron says, "That's your girlfriend's sister."

Pony stares after Rew with wide eyes, "That's Rainbow's _sister_?" he asks in disbelief.

"Mean as a rattlesnake and tough as nails, she's on the power lifting team."

Ponyboy feels the blood drain from his face, ' _I really like Rainbow_ ,' he thinks, ' _But I'm not sure getting the tar beaten out of me by Bob or Rew will be worth asking her out_.'

* * *

 **AN: Describing Jay as Warren Beatty was my grandma's idea.**


	3. Impolite

**AN: Hey everyone, sorry for the delay, the last day of school is coming up and I'm up to my eyeballs in work :(. However, once I'm out of school I _should_ be able to post a bit more often. **

A few days later, Ponyboy and Rainbow are talking in art class while they work on their landscape pictures.

"You know tomorrow's casual Friday, right?" Rainbow asks, blending her pastels with a paper towel.

"Yeah. Is there any dress code? I haven't read the student handbook yet." Pony says, deciding which colored pencil to use for the sunset's clouds.

"No one really cares about dress code here," Rainbow says, "you can dress however you want, as long as your...you know, 'areas' don't show, you're good." she explains, a light blush on her cheeks.

"Won't that be a distraction?" Ponyboy asks, remembering the strict dress code at his old school.

"If it is, it's a personal problem, and you have to take care of it yourself. There are a few teachers who make you cover up, but, other that that, you're free to dress as you please. Crimson Arts believes that you should dress how you want to dress, so that it brings out your personality, I don't know if you noticed this, but you don't have to wear the uniform properly if you don't want to."

"Yeah, I've noticed." Pony says, remembering that Dally, Two-Bit and Steve didn't wear the uniform properly.

"The rules are that you have to wear at least the shirt and pants and or skirt, you don't _have_ to wear the jacket and tie, but most people do anyway."

"This is a real easy goin' school!" Pony says.

"Well, when it comes to the dress code, yes, but, Crimson Arts has a very strict Zero Tolerance policy." Rainbow explains.

"Really?" Pony asks.

"Yeah, it's very strict when it comes to bullying. Any kind of bullying: physical, emotional, cyber, you name it. If you're caught doing any of that, you're immediately sent to ISS."

"...This school is awesome." Ponyboy says, flashing back to how many times kids teased him for his name and background, and how the teachers wouldn't do anything about it.

Rainbow smiles, "It sure is...hey, my friends and I are going into town Saturday, and I was wondering if you would like to come?"

Ponyboy thinks for a minute, "That sounds like fun, where are you going?"

"We're going to a place called "Digs", it's a popular hangout for the students here. It's kind of like a burger joint, bar place: you can eat, dance, there's an arcade in the back," then Rainbow lowers her voice and leans closer to Ponyboy, "And if you tip the bartender, Charlie, you can get alcohol."

"Really?" Pony asks, interested, then he asks, "How do you know this?"

Rainbow looks around and keeps her voice quiet, "There's this guy named Mark Jennings, my friend Cathy knows him, he's the student 'supplier' if you will. For the right price, he'll get you anything: alcohol, weed, 'skin mags' like _Playboy_...you name it."

"Wow." Ponyboy says, "Where does he get that stuff?"

"He doesn't say, and no one asks."

Ponyboy thinks that's really suspicious, "I see." he says.

"So, whadda ya think? Wanna come?" Rainbow asks, going back to the original topic.

"Yeah, I'll have to ask my brother, but I'd like to go."

Rainbow smiles at him, "Great!" she says, "If he says yes, meet us at the backway entrance of the school."

* * *

The next day, Friday. Ponyboy walks into class wearing a purple hoodie, a pair of jeans, and tennis shoes. ' _It'll be nice to see Rainbow is regular clothes_ ,' Pony thinks as he sits down, ' _That way I can see a bit more of her character_.'

Rainbow walks in a moment later, and Ponyboy takes a look at her clothes: she's wearing blue jean shorts, a white spaghetti strap top with fringe all over it, white sandals, and a white flower clip in her hair. She looks artsy, and has a flower child feel to her. He also takes notice of her finger nails, they're all painted a different color: yellow, green, purple, pink, and aqua.

"Hi Rainbow," Pony says as she sits down.

"Hi Pony." Rainbow says, "It feels good to be back in everyday clothes huh?" she asks with a smile.

Ponyboy smiles also, "Yeah, it sure does."

* * *

A little later, when it's time for lunch, Ponyboy meets up with Cameron again. Cameron is dressed casually too: he's wearing a white undershirt, with a long sleeved blue button up shirt, and jeans, he has on his everyday shoes.

As the two walk into the dining hall, Ponyboy looks over at Bob and his group. Bob is sitting on the table, yet again, and he's wearing a white shirt, his Letterman jacket, expensive looking jeans and tennis shoes. Randy is sitting next to him as usual, and he's wearing a pair of khakis, light brown shoes with white socks, and a dark red polo shirt with white edges on the sleeves and hem.

For the first time that day, Ponyboy feels under dressed.

Ignoring the feeling, he walks to the buffet and grabs his lunch, "If it's okay with you." Cameron says, "I'm gonna sit with my buddies."

"Alright, I'll see you later."

"See ya."

Ponyboy and Cameron part ways and Ponyboy walks over to where his brother and friends are, then he decides to ask Soda something.

"Hey Soda," Pony says as he sits down by him, "Can I ask you something?"

"You already did." Two-Bit remarks.

"Shut up Two-Bit," Soda says before turning back to Pony, "What did you want to ask me?"

"Well, some friends and I are wanting to go into town tomorrow, I was wondering if you'd think Darry would let me go."

Soda blinks and thinks about it for a moment, "I don't see why not, but you'd better text him, just to be sure."

Ponyboy just nods and starts to eat his lunch. The reason he has to text Darry and not ask him in person is because Darry lives in the teachers' apartments on the other side of the school and because he's with the football players so often.

* * *

After school, when Ponyboy is back in his dorm, he sends a text to Darry.

 **Hey Darry, um, a few friends invited me to go into town with them tomorrow, is it okay if I go?**

He waits for a minute or so before his phone buzzes, he picks it up and looks at Darry's text.

 **I suppose so, since it ain't a school night, but I want you back at dinnertime.**

Ponyboy grins and texts back,

 **I will be, thanks.**

* * *

The next day, Ponyboy waits by the back entrance of the school, waiting for Rainbow and her friends.

He doesn't have to wait for long, because,

"Hey, are you Curtis?"

Ponyboy jumps slightly and turns around to see two girls walking toward him, it's the girls that Rainbow sits with, the one with dark brown hair and gray eyes, and the black haired one with dark blue eyes.

"Yeah." Pony says.

The brunette with the ponytail smiles, "It's nice to meet you, Ponyboy was it?" Pony nods, "My name is Cathy, Cathy Carlson, this is Jamie Collins." she says, nodding to the black haired girl, who nods.

"It's nice to meet you too." Pony says with a small smile.

"Anyway, Rainbow and Sage should be here soon," Jamie explains, before she looks over her shoulder to check. When she looks over her shoulder, she whirls around completely, "Oh no!" she groans, "Look who tagged along...again!"

Ponyboy leans over to see around Cathy and Jamie, and when he does, he groans also. It's Jay, practically tied to Rainbow's hip, with the black curly haired girl beside them, looking as irritated as Rainbow.

"That idiot invites himself everywhere!" Jamie groans, "We can't get away from him!"

As Rainbow, Jay, and Sage arrive, Jay notices Ponyboy and plasters another fake smile on his face, "Oh, you're comin' too. Great." He says, not doing a good job of keeping the sarcasm out of his voice.

Rainbow picks up on the sarcasm, "I invited him," she says pointedly, "He's my friend, and I thought it would be nice for him to see the town."

Jay's plastic smile falters for a split second, but he doesn't say anything.

"Alright, are we ready to go?" Rainbow asks. There's a chorus of yeses, "Alright," she says with a grin, "Let's go!"

The town isn't very far away, it doesn't take very long to get there. Ponyboy looks around, along with Digs, there's a movie theater, a _Gold's Gym_ , and a _Charming Charlie's_ all in the same 'building.'

' _I can see why this is such a hot spot for students_.' Ponyboy thinks as they walk to Digs.

Once inside, Ponyboy looks around: there are booths along the right side of the place, a bar area on the left, a lot of space for dancing, and he can see the arcade area in the back. The floor is made of concrete and the walls are dark and covered in neon light signs.

"Okay people cough up," Jamie says, "I'll get the drinks."

Everyone reaches into their pockets and pulls out some money to give to Jamie, "Okay, I know you all want the usual." she says, looking at Rainbow and the others, then she looks at Ponyboy, "What do you want?"

"A Pepsi please." Pony says,

"You got it, I'm guessing we want the usual plate?" She asks Rainbow.

"Yup."

"Okay, I'll be back." Jamie says, walking toward the bar area to order.

"What's the usual plate?" Pony asks Cathy.

"A nacho plate, we get that every time we come over." She explains as they find a booth and sit down.

The minute Rainbow sits down, Jay practically pulls her onto his lap, she doesn't seem to enjoy this, "Jay!" She says, scooting out of his lap, "Knock it off!"

"Aw C'mon Baby," Jay coos, "I just wanna be close to you."

Rainbow has to suppress an eye-roll, she's getting really fed up with Jay, she had tried to be nice and let him off easy, but he just got worse, and she was losing her patience quickly.

"I'm not even six inches away from you! Cool it we're in public!" she hisses.

"Okay," It's Jamie, holding two cardboard cup holders with drinks, "Sierra Mist for Rainbow, Fruit Punch for Cathy, Root Beer for me and Sage, Coke for you," she hands Jay his drink, coldly, "And a Pepsi for Ponyboy."

Once she hands everyone their drinks, she sits down on the other side of Jay, "The Nacho plate should be here in a minute." she explains, taking a sip of Root Beer.

Ponyboy just nods and stares at his Pepsi as if it's the most interesting thing in the world, doing everything in his power not to look at Jay and Rainbow, he always feels weird whenever he sees them together, he wishes desperately that he were in Jay's place.

"So Ponyboy," Sage says, looking at him, "Where are you from? Rainbow told us that you moved here from another school."

"Oh, I'm from Tulsa, Tulsa Oklahoma."

"Oh, an Oakie eh?" Jay asks with a disproving look and tone.

Jamie takes another sip of her Root Beer before sending Jay a glare, "News flash jackass, we're all from Oklahoma!" she says, all the other girls glaring at him also.

' _I'm actually from Texas_." Rainbow thinks with an eye roll, but she doesn't say anything.

"Oh..." Jay says, his face turning red, he looks down and doesn't say anymore. Ponyboy can't help but grin a little bit.

"Anyway Pony, how are you liking Crimson Arts so far?" Cathy asks.

"I like it a lot, I'm loving my classes." Pony says with a smile.

"Which one's your favorite?" Rainbow asks.

Ponyboy feels his cheeks go hot again, he knows Rainbow didn't mean it in that way, but, he knows he would feel bad if he didn't say 'art'.

"Um, it's a tie between English and Art."

"Just like Rainbow!" Sage says with a smile, and it's at this time that Ponyboy notices she has a bit of a gap between her two front teeth. Rainbow giggles, "Actually Sage, it's a three way tie between English, Art, and Creative Writing."

"Hey, here comes our food." Jamie says as she sees the waitress walk up with a plate of chips and nacho cheese.

After they get their food, they all eat, drink, talk and laugh.

When a good portion of the nachos are gone, Rainbow stands up, "I'm gonna head to the arcade area, anyone wanna come?"

"I'll go!" Sage says, jumping up herself.

As the two girls walk off, "So, Ponyboy," Jay says suddenly, "You got a girl?"

Ponyboy feels his cheeks grow hot again, "Uh, no, I haven't really found anyone I like yet." when he says that, his eyes accidentally shoot over to Rainbow for a split second, he stands up abruptly, "Um...I'm gonna go to the bathroom. Be right back." he says before turning and walking quickly to the restroom.

* * *

After Ponyboy does his business, he walks out of the bathroom door...

...And is immediately pushed against a wall and cornered by Jay.

"What the-" Pony says, but is cut off.

"How dumb do you think I am?" Jay snaps.

Ponyboy looks at him and thinks, ' _You don't want me to answer that_.' But he doesn't say anything.

"You know," Jay starts again, "That's very impolite, staring at another man's woman." He says.

"I don't know what-"

"I saw you gawking at my girl! And you better stay away from her you little brat! She's mine! Stay away from her or I end you!" Jay takes an intimidating step closer, "Capiche?"

Ponyboy doesn't say anything, he just nods. Jay nods in a satisfied way before turning and walking away.

Ponyboy watches after him, stunned for a moment, before he walks back toward the main area. He looks around and spots Rainbow, who looks back at him and smiles.

He smiles back, but only for a moment.

' _I wanna go home_.' he thinks.


	4. Hold On To Me

**AN: Hi everyone, I'm officially on summer break so I should (keyword) be able to post more often ;).**

The next day, after breakfast, Ponyboy is walking out of the dining hall when he runs into Rainbow again.

"Hi Ponyboy." She says cheerfully.

"Hey Rainbow," he says, before taking notice of her clothes: she's wearing a light pink shirt with the sleeves rolled up and buttoned, a shorter, darker pink vest, white pants and knee length boots, "What're you up to?" he asks.

"I'm heading to the kitchen before I head down to the stables, would you like to come?" she asks, pointing her thumb in the direction of the kitchen.

For a moment, Ponyboy thinks back to Jay's warning, but when he looks into Rainbow's beautiful, alluring green eyes, he just _can't_ say no.

"Sure, sounds like fun."

Her smile widens, "Great! C'mon!" she says before she starts to lead him to the stairs of the dining hall balcony. "The kitchen is behind the Culinary Arts class." Rainbow explains as they walk around the side of the building toward a door.

"Are you sure we're allowed in here?" Pony asks as Rainbow opens the door, "Of course," she says, "I've been back here loads of times."

They both walk inside the kitchen, where there are chefs bustling around everywhere. Rainbow looks around for a moment before she taps Ponyboy's shoulder, "Over here." she says, leading him over to one of the chefs.

"Hi Pepper!" She says.

The chef turns and gives Rainbow a warm smile, "Hi Hon." she says. The woman, Pepper, appears to be in her early twenties, she has a motherly yet young face with warm gray eyes and long dark brown hair. She's wearing a white chef's uniform with dark red trim.

Pepper suddenly looks at Ponyboy, "Hello. Who's this?" she asks Rainbow.

"This is Ponyboy, a friend of mine." Rainbow says, "He's coming to the stables with me."

Pepper smiles, "Alright, you know where to look, have fun, and be careful." She says.

"We will, C'mon Pony." Rainbow says, leading him to the back of the kitchen. Where another chef is working, "Hi Miss Betty." Rainbow says.

Miss Betty turns around and smiles when she sees Rainbow, "Hello Sugar Bun." She says. Miss Betty is a woman in her late thirties, with dark skin, black eyes, and black hair that's put up in a bun, she's wearing a chef's uniform also, only her pants are dark red.

"Do you have any apples or carrots you don't need?" Rainbow asks. Miss Betty smiles and chuckles, "Goin' to the stables again?" When Rainbow nods, Miss Betty says, "There's some old apples in a box in the back, you can take those."

Rainbow smiles, "Thanks Miss Betty!" She says happily, going to get the apples.

As Rainbow goes to get the apples, Miss Betty turns to Ponyboy, "Hello there, who are you?" she asks in a sweet voice.

"I'm Ponyboy, Ponyboy Curtis, Rainbow's friend, I'm going to the stables with her." he says.

"Hmm, how come I haven't seen you around here before, I mean I haven't been on Lunch duty for a few days now, but I've been workin' here for a few years."

"I just moved here from Oklahoma, my brother got a job here, so my other brother, my friends and I get to come here for free." Pony explains.

"Just like Rainbow. Two of her sisters got jobs here, seems like you two have something in common."

"I have her in art class," Ponyboy says, "I found out we have a lot in common, it's almost like looking in a mirror." he say jokingly, before he realizes what he said and his hands fly over his mouth, his face turning red.

Miss Betty laughs, "You're a sweetheart, I like you!" she says just as Rainbow walks back with a box of apples.

"Miss Betty, no offense, but you need to tell me which box they're in."

"Whoops! Sorry Sugar Bun, making breakfast drained me today." Miss Betty says. Rainbow just smiles, "It's alright." She turns to Ponyboy, "Ready to go?" she asks.

"Yeah." Pony says.

"Alright, let's go!" She says, "Bye Miss Betty, Bye Pepper!" Rainbow calls as she and Ponyboy leave the kitchen.

"Bye Hon." Pepper calls.

"Bye Sugars!" Miss Betty calls.

The two leave the kitchen and make their way down the path that leads to the sports area. "The stables are just past the gym." Rainbow explains.

* * *

After a few minutes, the two pass the gym and head down some overgrown, stone stairs. Ponyboy can see the stables and track in the distance.

"Hey Ponyboy, do you ride?" Rainbow asks suddenly.

"Huh? Oh...I don't ride at all...I'm actually kind of scared of horses." Pony explains, rubbing the back of his head nervously, "I know that sounds weird with my name and everything."

"Why are you scared of horses?" Rainbow asks as they approach the stables.

"Well, I didn't used to be, but my older brother, Soda, had a horse called Mickey Mouse, and he was a real mean, fiery horse, I guess that's where the fear originated."

"Well, you don't have to worry, my horse is _far_ from mean and fiery." Rainbow explains, opening the stable door.

Ponyboy looks around as they enter the stables: The stables are made of dark, orange-ish wood, an earth floor covered with grass and hay, and stalls lined up against the walls.

"She's back here." Rainbow says, walking toward the back of the stables.

As they walk toward the back, Ponyboy looks at all of the different horses as they pass, and notices there are nameplates on the walls dividing the stalls.

He reads them as they pass: Holly...Negrito...Misty...Red...

"Hi!" He hears Rainbow coo in a high voice, "Did you miss me? Of course you did!" Ponyboy turns around to see Rainbow hugging her horse, Epona.

Epona is a white and sandy colored paint horse, with a sandy colored mane and tail, and dark green eyes. She's also the only paint in the stables.

"I've got something for ya!" Rainbow tells her, reaching down and getting Epona one of the apples in the box. Epona's eyes light up, and she carefully takes the apple from Rainbow's hand with her teeth before crunching down.

"Why don't you give her one Ponyboy?" Rainbow asks, picking up an apple and extending her arm to give it to him. He hesitates, "I promise you she isn't mean," Rainbow says, "Just give her an apple and pet her nose and she'll love you."

Ponyboy stares at the apple in Rainbow's hand for a moment before he takes it and walks over to Epona, "Hey girl," he says a little nervously, "Want another apple?"

Epona looks at him for a moment, then she sniffs the apple and carefully takes it with her teeth, like she had done with Rainbow. Then, Pony carefully lifts his hand and holds it in front of her nose, she looks at his hand before she bumps it slightly, as though looking for affection. Ponyboy smiles a little bit before he pets her nose.

"Aww, see? She likes you!" Rainbow says happily. "I'll tell you one thing, she sure doesn't want Jay to pet her."

"She doesn't?" Pony asks, still petting Epona's nose.

"Nope, she doesn't like him at all...And of course you can probably guess why." Rainbow says with a hint of laughter.

"Yeah." Pony says, remembering the day before.

Epona kind of nuzzles him again, and as he continues to pet her nose, he looks at Rainbow, "Epona is a pretty name, where'd you get it?"

"Well, while I was looking up names for her I stumbled upon it, it means 'Beautiful Mare', so I used it." Rainbow explains. "Hey, I'm gonna get something, I'll be right back." she says, walking toward the front of the stables.

Pony watches after her for a moment before he turns to Epona, "You know you have a wonderful owner." He whispers.

Epona makes a sound that indicates she agrees with him.

Rainbow walks back a minute later, holding a saddle, bridle, and blanket. "Okay, Ponyboy, I'm gonna need to open Epona's stall." she says, nodding to the lock that Ponyboy is standing in front of.

"Okay." He says, standing aside.

Rainbow unlocks Epona's stall door, then opens it before walking inside. She sets the saddle and blanket down, but she walks toward Epona with the bridle, "Okay girl, here we go." she says as she carefully puts the bridle around Epona's head.

After Epona has her bridle on, Rainbow picks up the blanket a puts it over her back, ' _Now for the hard part_.' Rainbow thinks as she goes to get the saddle.

Rainbow puts the saddle on Epona's back, before she kneels down and straps it, "That's not too tight is it girl?" Rainbow asks Epona, checking the straps. Epona makes a content sound, "Alright," Rainbow says, standing up. She takes Epona's reigns and leads her out of the stable, "Ponyboy, could you close the door for me?" she asks.

"Alright." He says, closing the door and locking it.

They all make their way outside, and once they're a little ways away from the stables, Rainbow puts her foot in the stirrup before she swings her leg up and over Epona's back, and sits on the saddle.

"You gonna ride for a while?" Ponyboy asks.

"Actually, I was wondering if you would ride with me." She says, "It's more fun to ride with a buddy."

Ponyboy hesitates, "I don't know..." He says.

"Ponyboy, I promise I'm not gonna go fast, I don't like going very fast."

Ponyboy thinks for a moment, before he walks closer and climbs up on Epona with Rainbow's help. When he's on the saddle, he's pressed up against Rainbow, and he hastily scoots to the back of the saddle.

"You're gonna want to hold on, just to be sure." Rainbow says, looking over her shoulder. Ponyboy blushes lightly and puts his arms around Rainbow's waist.

"Okay girl," Rainbow tells Epona, "Nice and slow." she says as they start to walk away from the stables, Epona makes an understanding sound and walks steadily.

"Aren't we going to the track?" Ponyboy asks, noticing that they're headed in the opposite direction of the track.

"No, I don't usually go to the track. I go to the forest-y area nearby." Rainbow says, pointing to the trees in the distance.

"Isn't that where Crimson Court is?" Ponyboy asks looking over Rainbow's shoulder.

"Yeah, but I don't go into Crimson Court, I usually stay on the outskirts or in the woods." Rainbow explains.

"Alright." Ponyboy says.

As they continue to ride toward the woods, they suddenly hear a motorbike revving up. They both look toward the road and see two boys on a motorbike speeding toward Crimson Court, the one driving has bright red hair, while the one on the back has shoulder length blonde hair.

"That was Tex McCormick and his buddy Johnny Collins." Rainbow says, "I'm friends with them, they're always going off somewhere on that bike."

"I see." Pony says.

* * *

After a while, they make it to the woods. Ponyboy looks up at the tall trees, "I bet it's going to look beautiful when fall arrives." Rainbow says, looking at the trees also, "All of the different colors with leaves falling down...I'm gonna bring my camera so I can get some pictures."

"That sounds nice." Pony says with a smile.

After a few minutes, the two decide to go sit under a tree to rest, while Epona grazes nearby.

"Hey Rainbow," Pony says after a minute, "You said that one of those guys' names was Johnny?"

"Yeah, why?" Rainbow asks, looking at him.

"My best friend's name is also Johnny, Johnny Cade." Pony explains.

"Oh boy...here we go again." Rainbow says, resting her chin on her hand.

"Again?" Ponyboy asks.

"There's this guy named Bob Collins," Rainbow explains, "and for a little while people kept getting Bob Collins confused with Bob Sheldon, a friend of mine."

"So how'd they resolve it?" Pony asks.

"Bob Sheldon made Collins go by "Robert Collins" instead. Collins asked if Sheldon could go by Robert...but that didn't go over very well...No one tells Bob Sheldon what to do." Rainbow says.

Pony's eyes widen a little bit, but he remembers what Cameron said to him on his first day here: " _Your girlfriend practically has him and his buddies wrapped around her finger_."

"Anyway," Rainbow says, "I guess that's the perks of having unique names, there can never be two of you."

They laugh for a minute, "Yeah," Pony says, smiling still, "I suppose your right."

* * *

The two sit and talk for a little while before they decide to head back.

"Pony," Rainbow says, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ride a little faster, I know lunch isn't until 12:45, but I was going to give Epona a quick brush, is that alright?" She asks after they mount Epona.

"It's alright." Pony says, feeling more comfortable with Epona.

Rainbow nods and urges Epona into a trot.

Trotting is a lot bumpier than walking is, so Ponyboy has to scoot closer to Rainbow, and wrap his arms around her waist a little tighter. Rainbow feels him do this, and she likes it.

As they reach the stables, Rainbow slows Epona into a slow walk, and they ride into the stables. Once they're inside and at Epona's stall, Ponyboy slides off her back, "I'll see you later Rainbow." He says.

"Alright, see ya." Rainbow says, sliding off Epona also.

Rainbow watches Ponyboy leave, and she sighs dreamily: his toned body and long legs, his green-gray eyes and auburn hair, she loves it.

When Ponyboy leaves, Rainbow turns and nuzzles into Epona's mane, "He's lovely isn't he?" she whispers. Epona makes an agreeing sound and nods, "He's so much better than Jay, I wish I was dating _him_!" She sighs and goes to take the bridle, saddle, and blanket off Epona.

After that she picks up the brush, and starts to brush Epona's neck, "You know Epona," She says, "...I think I'll invite him to the dance next week, that'll be fun!"

 **AN: I actually got the name Epona from "The Legend of Zelda".**


	5. Drama at the Dance

The following day, after school, in the student apartment building, three boys: David, Tyler, and Anthony, are sitting on the couch playing a fighting game on Bob's Xbox, and a fourth boy, Micheal, is sitting on the arm of the couch, doing something on his phone and watching the other three play.

David Ross is eighteen: he has wavy brown hair and eyes that are the same color, he's almost as tall as Bob with a good build. He's Bob's "Right hand man", and he can be just as tough as he is.

Tyler Morgan is almost eighteen: he has light brown hair, and dark blue eyes, he isn't as tall and is a little slimmer than David. He worries about his grades and at first glance is kind of a nerd, but he's also sporty, and can be the biggest jerk whenever he wants to be.

Anthony Newman is seventeen: He has short black hair and brown eyes, he's a little shorter than Tyler but has a better build. The guys like him yet hate him. He's loud and annoying, constantly telling jokes and bad puns (which Rainbow actually likes), and he quarrels with Bob often.

Micheal Franklin is seventeen also: he has light blonde hair and gray eyes, he's taller than Anthony and has a bigger build. Most of the time he just sits back and watches what the guys do, but he will join in if asked.

David and Tyler are leaned back on the couch, while Anthony is leaned forward, seeing that his character is about to be KO-ed by David and Tyler's characters.

"DAMMIT!" Anthony yells as he's KO-ed, "Three times in a row!"

"It's not our fault you suck at this game." Tyler says, laughing.

"I'm telling you it's the stupid controller!" Anthony says angrily, "I'm usually great at this game!"

When Anthony is about to throw the controller on the ground, Bob's voice comes from the kitchen, "Newman, if you break my controller you'll be up to your knees in floor!"

"Sorry, Boss." Anthony calls hastily.

Bob just rolls his eyes and walks out of the kitchen, "A quick reminder, you guys using my consoles is a privilege, not a right. You break it you buy it, that goes for all of you." Bob says before making his way to his and Randy's room.

Randy's lying on his bed, reading a catalog and listening to music while chewing on a piece of gum, he blows a bubble and pops it just as Bob walks in and closes the door, he pauses his music and puts his headphones around his neck.

"Hey Bob, I heard you yell at Anthony, what happened?" he asks, putting his catalog down.

"The dunce was gonna throw my controller on the ground and break it." Bob says, flopping down on his own bed.

Randy sits up, "Why?" he asks.

"Because he's too stupid to know that he sucks at video games, he was blamin' the damn controller!"

"It was most likely a heat of the moment thing, you know how you get when you lose at video games." Randy explains, "Nothing makes a person angrier than that."

Bob opens his mouth but doesn't say anything, he closes it after a moment "Yeah, I guess you're right...but you can't blame me for bein' mad, those controllers aren't cheap!"

Randy has to suppress an eye-roll, "Yeah, I guess." he says, while thinking, ' _You say that like you aren't loaded_.' then he decides to change the subject, "Anyway, are you goin' to the dance this Friday? I know I am."

Bob groans and rolls his eyes, "I don't really have a choice, can you imagine what would happen if I didn't take my girlfriend, who just so happens to be the most popular girl in school, to the dance? Hell would break loose!"

Bob lifts his hands and raises the pitch of his voice in order to look and sound more "Feminine" before he says, "You're the football captain, I'm the head cheerleader, people expect us to go! Can you imagine what people would think if I went alone? C'mon you know how much I like to dance!" His voice goes back to normal pitch, and he groans.

Randy's looking at him with wide eyes and a bemused expression, ' _I was wrong_ ,' He thinks, ' _There is something that makes a person more frustrated than loosing at video games_.'

"Well, Rainbow texted and told me she's going, so that's some good news." he says, trying to calm Bob down.

"Oh thank god." Bob says, "Cherry doesn't act as uppity when she's around."

* * *

In Rainbow's dorm, Rainbow and Sage are lying on their beds, talking.

"I invited Ponyboy to the dance this Friday, he said he'd be there." Rainbow says, messing with the ball-fringe on her pillow.

"Oh good," Sage says with a smile, "It'll be nice for you to dance with someone other than... ya know... _the_ _jerk_."

"Tell me about it." Rainbow says, grabbing her pillow and rolling over, "Have you noticed that whenever we go to those dances, I have to dance alone or with him! I can't dance with anyone else!"

Sage laughs, "Until Bob 'talked' to him."

Rainbow laughs too, "Hey," she says suddenly, "Are you going to the dance with someone?" she asks.

"Um, I was going to ask Tex, but I'm not really sure." Sage says, her face turning pink.

"That sounds good, he's a nice guy." Rainbow says with a smile.

"Well, yeah, but I'm pretty sure he likes Jamie." Sage says rubbing her elbow.

"What makes you say that?" Rainbow asks.

Sage twirls her hair around her finger, "Well...Jamie never told you they...went out for a little while last year...did she?"

Rainbow sits up straight at that, "What?! No, no she didn't."

"They ended it, or, well...Jamie ended it." Sage says, "But that's because Tex was fantasizing marriage." Sage looks down.

Rainbow looks at Sage with sympathetic eyes, "Well, even if he doesn't see you like that, you can still go as friends...right?" she asks.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right."

* * *

In Ponyboy's dorm, Ponyboy and Cameron are both sitting on their beds, talking about the dance also.

"Rainbow invited me to the dance," Ponyboy says, taking his shoes off and sitting them next to his bed, "I said I would go."

Cameron looks at him and grins, "Way to go, man." he says.

"I wish it was a 'way to go'," Ponyboy groans, "It would have been if Jay wasn't in the picture!"

"Hey man at least she wants you to be there." Cameron says with a slight shrug, "And who knows, maybe you'll get to dance with her."

"I dunno," Pony says, "Jay's pretty clingy." he flashes back to Saturday: "... _you better stay away from her you little brat_! _She's mine_! _Stay away from her or I end you_!"

"...Pony you're not scared of him are you?" Cameron asks after a minute.

"No!" Pony snaps, his ears turning red, "I ain't scared of him!...I just don't want him to give Rainbow any more trouble."

Cameron doesn't look completely convinced, but he still says, "Alright...So anyway, you gonna dress to impress or what?"

* * *

Finally, Friday rolls around and everyone is buzzing about the dance: Who's going, who's not going, who's going with who, who's going to wear what, etc.

Gym class had been outside the entire day, because the decorating committee was working on decorating the gym. A few of the kids sneaked peaks as they went to change in the locker rooms and they said it looked great.

Ever since school ended, Ponyboy has all but scrubbed himself transparent: He took a shower, brushed his teeth, combed his hair back, and spent a while picking out clothes. He finally decided on a dark red shirt, a navy blue jacket and pants.

"Ponyboy, you gotta relax." Cameron says, combing his own hair, "Not everyone dresses up for these dances."

"I know, it's just that I don't want to feel under dressed...like almost always." Pony admits.

Cameron just sighs and puts his comb down, "Okay, ready to go?" he asks after checking his hair.

Pony stands up from his bed, "Yeah, I guess."

"Just think," Cameron says as they leave their dorm, "You could dance with Rainbow Swan, I hear she dresses pretty nice for these dances." he wiggles his eyebrows in a way that makes Pony slap his arm.

The two leave the dormitories and join the flood of students that are heading toward the gym: some in large groups, small groups, or by themselves.

"Are your brothers and buddies coming?" Cameron asks.

"Yeah, my oldest brother, Darry, is going to be chaperoning, and Soda and the others are going."

"Do they have dates?"

"Um, Soda's best buddy, Steve Randle found a girl named Evie Marin that he seems to like, not sure about the others though."

"I see." Cameron says.

After a few minutes, the two reach the gym, where there are a few students hanging out outside, he can already hear the music from where he's at.

He looks around to see if there's anyone he knows around when he spots Randy and Bob standing with two girls: One of them has narrow, aqua-green eyes and red hair that falls past her shoulders, she's wearing a fancy black dress. The other girl is a little smaller, she has bigger, dark brown eyes, and very dark brown hair that's sort of in a pixie cut, she's wearing a black and blue party dress.

"Who's that with Bob and Randy?" Pony asks, pointing in their direction.

Cameron looks over and groans, "That's Cherry Valance, Bob's girlfriend, head cheerleader."

"She looks nice."

"Oh yeah, she might _look_ nice and act like little miss perfect, but I'm pretty sure she only cares about her image!"

Ponyboy draws back slightly, "And who's that other girl?"

Cameron sighs, "That's Marcia Meyrink. Cherry's best friend, and...Randy's girlfriend, she's on the cheer squad also."

"What's she like?"

"She ain't no Cherry Valance I'll tell you that much. She ain't shallow or plastic, she's smart and funny and actually has compassion for people...gosh ain't she pretty?"

Ponyboy turns to look at Cameron, who is redder than Cherry's hair, "Well let's head inside don't want your girl to wait now do we?!" Cameron asks in one breath before dragging Ponyboy into the gym. Once inside, Pony and Cameron are met with loud music and a crowd of dancing people.

The gym had been altered for the dance: There are now tables with food and drinks against the walls, there are streamers and balloons hanging from the ceiling, the lights had been dimmed, but not a lot, just enough so the multicolor lights that bounce off the disco ball are noticeable, and there's a tarp covering the floor so the kids' shoes won't scratch it.

"Do you see Rainbow?" Pony says loudly in order to be heard over the music.

"No!" Cameron says back.

Pony looks around for a few minutes before he decides to head over and get some punch, "I'm gonna get a drink!"

"Okay, I'll come with you!"

* * *

"C'mon Bob, let's go dance, I love this song!" Cherry says, wrapping herself around Bob's arm.

"Babe we just got here, I wanna talk to the guys for a while." Bob says, trying to pull from Cherry's grasp.

"Aww come on Bob, just one dance. It's called a dance for a reason." Cherry kind of whines.

Bob inwardly groans, "Alright, but just _one_ dance...Randy, you and Marcia wanna come?"

Marcia and Randy, who had been standing by, watching Bob and Cherry have yet another 'moment', look at each other and shrug, "Sure, why not?" Randy says.

"Sounds like fun." Marcia says, taking Randy's hand.

As the two couples make their way to the dance floor, another girl makes her way into the gym, looking like Cinderella.

* * *

Ponyboy and Cameron are both standing by the drinks table, talking, when Cameron sees who walked into the gym. He smirks and elbows Ponyboy's arm, "Look who just walked in." He says, nodding toward the entrance.

Ponyboy looks at him oddly before he looks toward the entrance and his jaw drops when he sees Rainbow. She's beautiful!

She has on a light blue dress with black dots and a black belt, she's wearing long black gloves, around her neck is a ribbon with a gold heart with earrings to match, and black shoes with kitten heels. Her hair has been straightened and is tied up in a ponytail with a long blue ribbon, and she has on mascara, blue eye shadow, and pink lipstick.

She looks around the gym before her eyes land on Ponyboy and her face lights up and she begins to make her way over. Cameron grins at Ponyboy and gives him a thumbs up (making sure to keep it out of Rainbow's line of vision), before he leaves to go talk to one of his friends.

"Hi Ponyboy." Rainbow says when she arrives, "You look good." she adds after giving him a once over.

"Thanks," he says, his face going red, "You look good too."

Rainbow's face goes pink also, "Thank you...How's the punch taste?" she asks.

"Oh, I think it's good." Pony says, looking at his cup. Rainbow smiles and grabs herself a cup, "Have you tried dipping a sugar cookie into this?" she asks after she gets her cup, "It's amazing!"

"Yeah, I've heard of people doing that, but I've never done it myself." Pony admits, taking another sip.

"You should, like I said, it's amazing!"

The two continue to talk about the punch for a minute or so, before the conversation drifts to the decorations in the gym, then the music that's playing...And then,

"Hey...Wanna go dance?" Rainbow asks, tossing her empty cup in a nearby recycling bin. Ponyboy tries to keep his smile from reaching his ears and tosses his cup in the bin also, "Sure, that'd be f-"

"Hey Babe!"

Both Ponyboy and Rainbow stiffen, "Oh no," Rainbow groans, "I was afraid of this." she says, as she spots Jay striding over to them.

Ponyboy looks at Jay's clothes as he approaches: he's wearing a white button up shirt with black pants and black tie. His own hair has been combed back and when he reaches the table, both Pony and Rainbow get a strong whiff of cologne.

Jay instantly glues himself to Rainbow's hip, "Here you are! I've been looking for you!"

"Here I am." Rainbow says, not much emotion in her voice. Jay doesn't seem to notice this, "C'mon Babe, let's go dance, I know how much you love to!"

' _Yes_ , _but not with you_.' Rainbow thinks, while saying, "Yes, I love to dance, but I was about to dance with Ponyboy, I'll dance with you in a minute."

"Aw come on Rainbow!" Jay pouts, resting his chin on her shoulder and giving her puppy eyes. Rainbow turns her head and groans, "Jay, I want-"

"You can dance with him Rainbow, I don't mind."

Rainbow's head snaps up and she stares at Ponyboy in disbelief...until she realizes he only said that to be polite, she can _see_ the disappointment in his eyes. What Rainbow didn't see, however, is when she turned her head, Jay gave Ponyboy the evil eye, making him remember last Saturday and practically scaring him into letting him dance with Rainbow.

"...Okay." Rainbow says with a sigh.

Jay grins and proceeds to lead Rainbow out onto the dance floor, she lets out a sigh and looks back at Ponyboy until Jay sweeps her into a dance.

Ponyboy watches Jay and Rainbow dance for a moment before he gets another cup of punch and turns and walks away, he doesn't know where he's going, all he knows is he can't stand the sight of Rainbow and Jay dancing together.

After a minute or so, he finds himself sitting in one of the seats that's lined up against the wall of the gym. As he drinks his punch, he watches everyone dance. Not too far away, he sees Bob and Cherry dancing, Cherry looks like she's having the time of her life, but Bob looks almost bored out of his skull.

Leaning in his seat slightly, he can see Jay and Rainbow on the other side of the gym, Jay looks like he's on cloud nine, while Rainbow looks absolutely miserable .

As he's watching them, Rainbow glances over and their eyes lock for a moment until Jay twirls her around. As she and Jay continue to dance, she keeps sneaking glances at Ponyboy every time she's facing his direction.

* * *

After a minute the song that had been playing ends and a new song starts to play, a slower, more romantic song.

Cherry looks up at Bob with puppy eyes, "Ooh, Bob this song is so romantic, let's dance to this one!" she says, wrapping herself around Bob's arm again.

Bob tries unsuccessfully to repress a groan, "Baby, I know it's called a dance but I wanna get a drink."

Cherry pouts and presses her breasts up against Bob's chest, "Aww, come on _Bobby_ ," Bob cringes slightly, "One more dance isn't gonna kill ya!"

' _It might_!' Bob thinks.

Nearby, Marcia and Randy are looking between Bob and Cherry and each other, "Here it comes." Marcia whispers, "Yup." Randy whispers back.

"Okay, but this is the _last_ one! Then I'm gonna get a drink!" Bob says. Cherry's smile grows and she presses herself against Bob's chest again as they begin to dance to the romantic song.

* * *

Halfway through the song, Jay finally notices that Rainbow isn't paying much attention to him or the dance, he has a hunch he knows what...or who, she keeps looking at, so, he puts his hand under her chin and makes her look at him, and kisses her.

Rainbow doesn't react to the kiss, she isn't surprised that Jay is kissing her, they kissed a few times when they first started dating, (and when Jay wasn't so irritating), and because this is such a 'romantic dance', it isn't a huge shock he played that card.

On the other side of the gym, Ponyboy throws his empty cup away and looks back to where Rainbow is...and he feels his heart stop when he sees them kissing. It hurts, it hurts so bad; that should be him out there with her, not Jay!

'... _Oh_ , _I should just go_ ,' he thinks, ' _The only reason I came is because Rainbow invited me_ , _but because Jay's getting in the way_ , _there's no reason for me to be here_.' he takes one last glance at Rainbow before he turns and heads toward the exit, his heart torn in half.

* * *

After the romantic song is over and another song starts to play, Bob attempts to pull away from Cherry, "Hang on Baby, I gotta go get a drink." he says. However, Cherry stays plastered to his chest, "Can't you get one after we dance?" she asks.

"Gee, I might as well get one next week if _that's_ the case!" Bob snaps, he's reached his limit.

Cherry draws back and glares at him slightly, "What's _that_ supposed to mean?" she asks.

"Wha-...Haven't you noticed we've done nothing but dance ever since we set foot in the gym?"

Marcia and Randy are nearby, they're dancing, but all of their attention is on Bob and Cherry.

Cherry huffs and kind of tosses her hair, "What did I tell you earlier? It's called a dance for-"

"'For a reason', I know! But that doesn't mean I have to dance with you for every goddamn second!"

* * *

On the other side of the gym, Jay pulls another trick and kisses Rainbow again, but this one isn't like the first, this one's...kind of disgusting. It's like he's trying to eat her lipstick.

Rainbow draws back in disgust, "Jay, what are you doing?" She asks.

"Trying to prove how good I am!" He says before crushing her against his chest and kissing her again, but this time...he gets a little handsy...and Rainbow finally has enough.

"Jay!" She snaps, pushing him away, "What do you think you're doing?"

"I just want you to dance with me!" Jay says.

" _That_ wasn't dancing! That was making out...that was..." She couldn't think of another word to describe it...besides sex.

"Oh come on Rainbow!" Jay pleads, "Come on, you're supposed to be my girlfriend!"

"I'm not your girlfriend!" Rainbow practically yells, "I don't...I don't like you in that way anymore! You've gotten so clingy, I can't do anything on my own anymore!"

By now people have noticed Jay and Rainbow's argument and are watching them as they dance.

* * *

On the other side of the gym, Bob and Cherry are having a full blown argument of their own, with Marcia and Randy watching from the side.

"I just want to dance and have fun! What's wrong with that?" Cherry asks angrily.

"I'll tell you what's wrong with it! You don't want to do anything else, I just want to get a drink, and you won't let me do _that_!"

"I just want to spend time with you!"

"You can spend time with someone without making them dance till their legs give out!"

Cherry opens her mouth, but nothing comes out, instead, she tosses her hair haughtily, and storms away with a 'hmpf'. Bob lets out an angry, frustrated groan and walks in the opposite direction.

Randy watches after Bob before he looks back at Marcia, "Uh, Marcia...I gotta-"

"Go ahead, I think Rainbow needs some assistance." Marcia says, seeing Rainbow yell at Jay in the distance.

As Randy rushes after Bob, Marcia walks over to Rainbow and Jay. "Hiya Rainbow, wanna dance?" she asks, knowing exactly what the predicament is.

Jay looks at her with a glare, "Can't you see she's busy?" He snaps.

"Sure I'd love to!" Rainbow says happily, turning away from Jay and taking Marcia's outstretched hand. As the two girls go to dance, Marcia looks over her shoulder and sends Jay one last glare before she and Rainbow walk off.

* * *

"Bob? Bob where are you?" Randy calls as he leaves the gym. He looks around for a minute before he sees Bob leaned up against the wall of the gym, his arms are crossed and he appears to be muttering to himself.

Randy walks over cautiously, "Bob?" he asks. Bob's head shoots up and he looks angry until he sees that it's Randy, "Oh, hey Rands, what's up?" he asks, his voice still has an edge to it.

"I...are you...alright?" Randy asks.

Bob sighs, "Yeah, I just need a drink."

"I can get you some punch if you like." Randy offers. Bob looks at him and shrugs, "Sure, thanks."

"I'll be right back." Randy says before turning and heading back into the gym. As he walks into the gym, he's met with a Shawn Mendez song, and as he's getting some punch for him and Bob, he looks up to see Marcia and Rainbow going wild on the dance floor. He chuckles before he takes the cups and walks back outside.

"Here ya go Bob." Randy says, handing him his punch.

"Thanks Rands." Bob says, taking the cup.

As Randy takes a drink from his punch, he sees Bob pull a small flask from his back pocket, and pour some Vodka into his punch. Randy nearly chokes on his own punch, "Ack! Wha- Bob what are you doing?" he asks.

"What do you think I meant when I said I needed a drink? I need a _drink_!" Bob says, "...By the way, want some?" he asks, before holding out his flask, about to pour some Vodka into Randy's punch.

Randy pulls away and covers the top of his cup, "No! You know I hate drinking!" he says.

Bob shrugs, "Suit yourself." he says, putting his flask away before taking a swig of his now alcoholic drink.

"Bob...you're my best friend and I don't mean this in any wrong way but...you have a problem." Randy says, eyeing Bob's cup.

"Damn right I've got a problem! I've got a clingy Barbie doll as a girlfriend, and a tight-ass best friend!"

The millisecond that leaves Bob's mouth, he regrets it, "I...I didn't mean that Randy...I'm sorry." he says, having seen the hurt expression that appeared on Randy's face for a split second.

"It's just that...Cherry's been nagging me so much recently, and it's driving me insane!"

Randy leans up against the wall beside Bob, "...Then, why don't you break up with her, all you've done is complain about her for the past few weeks."

Bob takes another gulp of punch, "Yeah, I know...but, it's never been convenient to break up with her. The whole school expects us to be together at these events."

Randy just nods and Bob throws his cup away, "Ya know Randy, let's just head back to the apartment, I didn't want to come anyway."

"Alright, but I think we should tell Marcia and Cherry-" Bob cuts Randy off.

"Marcia will understand, unlike my girlfriend, yours is cool."

Randy sighs before the two make their way back to their apartment.

* * *

Back in the gym, Darry is leaned up against the wall, watching the students dance, when Anna Woods suddenly walks up to him, "Hello Mr. Curtis." She says. Darry looks over at her "Hello Ms. Woods, how are you?" he asks.

"I'm well, thank you, I just came to see how the dance was going before I headed back to my office. How are you?"

"I'm alright, just watching the kids, making sure they don't act up, just saw a few arguments break out." Darry explains.

"Oh, I see, that's always happening here, most of the drama occurs at these dances." Anna says.

"I can see that."

"So how have you been? How's work?" Anna asks.

"Oh it's alright, those boys are great at football."

"Yes, Crimson Arts has a very good football program...I'm assuming you met Robert Sheldon?"

"Yes, he's an amazing player even though he has a bit of an attitude problem." Darry says with a roll of his eyes.

"Yes...Well, I hate to leave so soon, but I better get back to work, I'll see you later."

"Okay, bye." Darry says, watching Anna walk toward the exit.

Darry leans against the wall for a few minutes before he hears another voice, "Hola Darrel!"

Darry looks over and stands up straight when he sees who it is, "Oh! Hello Ms. Hermann, how are you?"

Hermann, the cheer leading coach, is nineteen-years-old, with black wavy hair that falls past her shoulders, doe-shaped brown eyes, a thin heart shaped mouth with a beauty mark above her upper lip, and a beautiful, thin, hourglass figure.

She isn't wearing her coaching outfit, she's wearing a dark red sweater dress, gray tights, and dark red heels, and her hair isn't in a ponytail, it's let loose. She's also wearing more make-up than usual.

"I'm well, thanks. How are you?" Hermann asks.

"Oh, I'm alright."

"I see you got the role of babysitter here too." Hermann says, laughter in her voice.

Darry kind of chuckles also, "Yup, I've already seen a few arguments break out between the students."

Hermann sighs, "Yes, I saw that too, so much drama, you know...that small blonde girl is my little sister." Hermann explains.

Darry looks at her, "Really?" he asks.

"Si, she gets to come here free because me and my other sister are working here." Hermann explains.

"Really now? What a coincidence, my brothers get to come here free also."

Hermann smiles at him, "Sounds like we have a few things in common."

"Yes, we both like sports, we both work here, and our families are here." Darry says. He wasn't really trying to be funny, but Hermann cracks up laughing anyway.

"Yes, that's three things...I wonder if there's anything else we have in common." Hermann says with a hint of something in her voice, "We should really talk more often."

Darry smiles and tries to repress a blush, "Yeah, yeah we should."

 **AN: Uh...I'm sorry for any Cherry fans out there, but she's not very likable in this story.**


	6. Mall Rats

**AN: Hey guys, sorry for falling off the face of the Earth like that, it's just that so many things are going on in my life right now, not only that but I've gotten into other things. I have several other chapters of Crimson Arts written, and I'll be publishing those, but once those are published I don't know what'll happen after that.**

The next day, Rainbow is woken up by something vibrating on her bedside table. She opens her eyes and lifts her head from her gold satin pillow. She blinks as her eyes try to adjust to the brightness of the room. She looks over at Sage's bed, and sees that Sage has already gotten up, ' _I must've overslept again_.' she thinks, while reaching over to get her phone from her bedside table.

She grabs her phone and looks at it to see why it buzzed, she sees that it's a text from Randy.

 **Hey Rainbow, Bob and I are going into town to kinda wander around, wanna come?**

Rainbow thinks for a minute before she texts back,

 **Sure, but I just woke up, you'll have to give me a few minutes to get dressed.**

 **Oh, don't worry, Bob and I woke up a few minutes ago ourselves. See you in a bit. Meet us by the back entrance BTW.**

 **I will, see ya.**

After Rainbow sends her text, she throws her blanket off and swings her legs over the side of her bed and stands up. She goes to the bathroom to brush her teeth, then goes back to her room and pulls on a top, shorts and sandals. Then she grabs one of her purses and puts her phone and some money into it, before grabbing her iPod shuffle and headphones and walking out of her room.

* * *

Rainbow walks out of the dormitories and makes her way toward the back entrance to wait for Bob and Randy. She sits down on a little wall and puts her headphones on to wait until Bob and Randy arrive.

She doesn't have to wait for long, because after a few minutes she sees Bob's Raptor driving in her direction, she can see the passenger window is rolled down and Randy's arm is resting on the sill.

She smiles and waves as they approach, Randy smiles back as the truck comes to a halt.

Rainbow opens the back door and climbs inside, "Hi." She says.

"Hey." Bob says.

"Hi Rainbow." Randy says.

"So, where are we going?" Rainbow asks as Bob begins to drive away from the school.

"Well, Bob and I were thinking about heading to the mall, what do you think?" Randy asks, looking over his shoulder.

"Sounds like fun." Rainbow says with a grin.

"Yeah, considering last night was a bit of a fiasco we decided that we should get out and kinda relax a little." Randy explains.

Rainbow sighs, "That sounds very nice."

* * *

After a few minutes of driving, the three arrive at the mall and park in the crowded parking lot. "Okay guys remember, we're in the Itchy lot." Bob says.

Randy and Rainbow both laugh at the reference before they make their way inside.

"Alrighty, any suggestions on where we want to go?" Bob asks as they walk inside.

"I dunno, I heard that they added new stores, let's look at the map and check." Randy says, pointing to a map nearby.

They walk over and begin to read the names of the different stores, "Okay...uh, we got _Claire's_ , _Macy's_ , _Dick's Sporting Goods_...Hey they do have a new store, it's called _Earthbound._ " Bob says.

"' _Earthbound_ '? Like the game?" Rainbow asks in amusement.

"Probably." Randy says, laughing also.

"Let's go check it out." Bob says, walking in the direction of the store.

Rainbow grabs a small paper map before she follows Bob and Randy across the mall to _Earthbound_.

When they get there, they see it isn't about the game _Earthbound_ , it's a very Earthy store. "Oh. My god." Bob says, a smile slowly spreading across his face, "This is a flower child store, you two will fit in here perfectly!" Bob turns and smirks, looking at Randy's long hair and peace medal, and Rainbow's tie-dye tank top and slightly messy hair.

Randy looks at Bob and says "Very funny" while Rainbow's eyes light up, "Okay! _This_ I gotta see!" She says before marching inside. Bob sighs and rolls his eyes, smiling still, "While you two are doing that, I'm gonna head to _Game Stop_ to see if they have any good games."

"Alright, see you in a few." Randy says as Bob walks away.

Randy walks in to _Earthbound_ , where he finds Rainbow, drooling over a wall just covered in dream catchers, "They have a rainbow one! A Yin and Yang one! A star one! Oh my god I'm in heaven!"

Randy chuckles as Rainbow takes off to another section, a jewelery section, "Hey Randy, they have more peace sign necklaces!" He hears her say. He walks over and looks at them, "Yeah, I have been wanting a new one." Randy says, looking at a shiny gold one.

"Ooh, Randy, over here!" Randy turns and sees Rainbow at the back of the store, he has to laugh, "God I can't keep up with her." he says to himself as he walks over to her, "Yes?" he asks.

"Look!" Rainbow says, pointing to the wall, it's covered in crystals, geodes and different types of rocks. "Yup," Randy says, "I forgot how much you love geology." he says, smiling at her.

Rainbow turns around and her eyes land on something else and she shoots over there, by now Randy is having a very hard time keeping his laughing under control, "God, is this what she's like when she comes to the mall?" he asks himself.

He walks over to Rainbow who's staring at a Bodhi tree, "Did ya want to buy anything?" he asks.

"Oh I want to buy a lot of this stuff, but I can wait until Christmas." Rainbow says, looking at him, "What about you?"

"I dunno, I guess I'll buy that new peace medal." he says, looking at his older gray necklace.

* * *

After a few minutes, Randy and Rainbow walk out of _Earthbound_ , Randy holding a small bag, and they head toward _Game Stop_ to look for Bob.

Along the way, Rainbow looks at the map and sees another new store called _Pride._

"Hey Randy," She says, "There's a store called _Pride_ here." she says.

Randy chuckles, "Oh really, maybe we should get you a rainbow flag!"

Rainbow rolls her eyes, "Har har, maybe we should get _you_ one too!"

Randy chuckles again, "Alright." he says, "I'll show my support."

After a minute or so, the two reach Game Stop and see Bob walking out. "Hey Bob." Randy says as he and Rainbow walk up to him.

"Hey," Bob says, before noticing the bag in Randy's hand, "What'cha got in the bag Rands?"

"New peace necklace." Randy says, "What about you? Did you buy anything?"

"Nah, nothing really called my name."

"Okay, where to now?" Rainbow asks.

"I was gonna head to _Dick's._ " Bob says, "Maybe buy a new football or shoes or somethin'."

"Hey don't they have bows and arrows there?" Rainbow asks.

"Yeah, I think so."

"I'll come with you then." she says happily, "I watched _Brave_ a while back and got an interest in them."

"Alright. What about you Randy?" Bob asks.

"Um, I think I'll just wander." Randy says, almost absentmindedly.

"You sure?" Rainbow asks.

"Yeah, I'll catch up in a minute." Randy says. He still seems kind of absentminded, or, maybe even nervous.

"Alright, c'mon Merida." Bob says to Rainbow before the two head in the direction of _Dick's_.

Randy watches after them for a moment before he turns and starts to make his way to another end of the mall. He goes up an escalator and walks until he reaches a music store.

Once inside, he goes to the back of the store and looks at the guitars longingly. He looks around at them for a minute before he reaches up and takes one off its hook, it's beautiful: It's a dark red-ish brown in the center, but then it fades into black at the edges, not to mention it's super shiny.

He finds a nearby stool and sits down, putting the guitar in his lap, he holds the neck lightly and begins to play. He doesn't play much, he just strums the strings with his fingers for a minute, it sounds beautiful. He stops and puts the guitar back on its hook. He repeats this process for several other guitars before he leaves without buying any of them.

He walks back across the mall to _Dick's_ , where Bob and Rainbow are. He walks in and looks around before he sees them in the archery aisle, where Rainbow is trying to pull back a bow with Bob laughing at her. As Randy gets closer, he hears their conversation, "Bob I can't pull this one back! It's too stiff!"

"There are others." he hears Bob say, amusement still in his voice, "Let's keep looking."

Randy walks up to them, "Hey guys." he says. Bob and Rainbow turn to him, "Oh hey Randy, Rainbow here was just looking for a bow she likes." Bob explains, nodding at Rainbow, who is currently searching for another bow.

"Any luck?" Randy asks.

"So far not really...hey look at this one!" Rainbow says, picking up a bow that's black with some pink on it. She pulls the string back, "Hey! This one's nice!" She says, "And the fact that it has pink on it makes it even better!"

"Do you really want it Rainbow? 'Cause I can get it for you." Bob offers.

"No thanks," Rainbow says, "I like it, but I can wait until Christmas."

' _Oh yeah_ , _I forgot she was the holiday gift type_.' Bob thinks with a roll of his eyes.

After a few minutes, the three leave _Dick's_ and start to head toward the food court, Bob ended up not buying anything because he was too busy laughing at Rainbow.

"Hey Randy, what'd you go do? I never asked." Bob asks.

"Oh, I just wandered around." Randy answers, he seems less happy than he did earlier.

"You didn't look at anything?"

"Well, I went to the music store and looked around for a little while."

Rainbow turns to look at him, "Were you looking at the guitars again?"

Randy almost shies away, "Yeah," he says.

Bob turns to him also, "Nice, did ya see any ya liked?"

"Yeah, there were a lot of nice ones."

"Are you gonna buy any?" Rainbow asks.

"Uh, no, I can wait a little while." Randy says, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Why wait?" Bob asks, "You've been wanting one for a while, and it's not like you're poor or anything, unless you're the holiday gift type like Rainbow here." Rainbow rolls her eyes slightly.

"I just don't need one right now." Randy says, walking ahead of them.

Bob groans a bit and leans closer to Rainbow, "It's his bitchy mom," he whispers, "She doesn't like that he plays guitar."

Rainbow looks at him in confusion, "What, why?...Does she have a reason?"

Bob groans again, "That woman doesn't _need_ a reason."

Rainbow glances at Randy before looking back at Bob, "Seems like she would be thrilled he can play an instrument, I know _I_ want to learn to play something."

"Yeah, and she should be happy he ain't tone deaf like yours truly." Bob says with a roll of his eyes.

"I haven't even heard much about his mom." Rainbow says.

"Then consider yourself lucky." Bob says.

Rainbow looks at him with wide eyes, she has a lot more questions, but she doesn't say anything, she feels like this isn't any of her business. She looks at Randy, who looks a little forlorn.

"You know, maybe after we eat he'll feel a little better." Rainbow says to Bob.

"Maybe." he says.

The three arrive at the food court after a few minutes and look around, "What do you guys want?" Rainbow asks.

"Well, I was thinkin' we could get a pizza." Bob says.

"Oh yeah! I second that!" Rainbow says excitedly.

"That okay with you Randy?" Bob asks.

"Yeah." he says.

Then Rainbow looks around and and her eyes land on an ice cream shop, "...You know, I kinda want a chocolate milkshake too." she says.

"Yeah, that does sound good." Randy says with a smile.

"Okay, I'll get the pizza." Bob says, walking off, "Pepperoni, right?" he calls over his shoulder.

"Yeah." Randy and Rainbow say in unison.

"I'll get the milkshakes." Randy tells Rainbow after Bob leaves.

"I'll find us a place to sit, but let me know when you have the milkshakes, I don't trust you carrying three, one'll end up on the floor." Rainbow tells him.

Randy laughs before he turns and goes to get the milkshakes.

* * *

After Randy and Rainbow have their milkshakes, they're sitting at the table Rainbow picked out, waiting for Bob.

"I hope Bob doesn't take too long," Rainbow says, taking a sip of her milkshake, "I didn't eat breakfast this morning."

"He shouldn't take too long," Randy says, "And don't worry, you're not alone on that, Bob and I didn't eat either."

"Ya just had to get out of there huh?" Rainbow asks. Randy's drinking his milkshake, so he just nods.

"Heads up. Coming in hot!" Bob yells, which startles Randy and causes him to spit his milkshake all over the table.

"Holy crow!" Rainbow yells, quickly grabbing napkins and wiping off the table.

"You son of a bitch!" Randy says, grabbing a napkin and wiping his face off, before glaring at Bob, "You did that on purpose!"

Bob doesn't respond, he just sets the pizza down in the middle of the table.

"Mmm," Rainbow says, "Looks good."

They all grab a slice of pizza and start to eat and talk, Randy seems to be in a much better mood than he was earlier, which cheers Rainbow up too, ' _I can't stand it when Randy's sad._ " She thinks.

As Rainbow eats her pizza, she looks at Bob and Randy, two of her closest friends. Bob...Bob's hard, tough, and kinda cocky...But she _knows_ that he's a good guy, and her friend, and he would help her with anything if she asked him. And Randy...Randy's definitely more thoughtful, caring and sensitive...But she sometimes feels there's something wrong.

She just sighs and finishes her food. No use worrying about it now, she's here to relax and unwind.

The three finish eating after a few minutes and are more than satisfied.

"That was good." Rainbow says, "I can't eat anymore."

"I can't either," Randy says, sliding down in his chair a little, "I don't think those milkshakes helped."

"And remember, those were small...Bob got a medium!"

"Yeah he did! He eats like a horse I swear!" Randy exclaims.

"Hey, shut up!" Bob says, glaring with a smile "Football takes a lot out of you!"

"Oh, and basketball doesn't?" Randy asks, raising an eyebrow.

"And gymnastics!" Rainbow pipes up.

Bob just rolls his eyes and is about to say something else when suddenly his smile fades and his eyes get wider, "You gotta be fuckin' kidding me." he says.

"What is it?" Randy asks, worried.

Bob kind of nods his head and tells Randy and Rainbow, "Duck behind this pillar! Don't let her see us!"

Randy and Rainbow do as they're told, but Randy looks at Bob and asks, "Don't let who see us?"

"It's Cherry. I'm not in the mood to see her, especially after last night!"

"...I have an idea," Randy says, "Cherry's headed in _that_ direction, why don't we hightail it in the other direction." he says.

"Yeah, there's a store about three doors down we can hide in." Rainbow says.

"Okay, let's go."

They stand up slowly and check to see if Cherry's looking in their direction before they quickly walk out of the food court, make a left turn, and duck into the store Rainbow told them about. It's an art supply store.

"Of course you'd drag us _here_ Rainbow." Bob says, looking around at the store.

"It was either this or the two other stores, which were _Bath and Body Works_ , and _Victoria's Secret_." Rainbow says.

"I'd prefer _Victoria's Secret_ actually." Bob mutters.

"BOB!" Randy and Rainbow exclaim in unison, their faces a bright red. Bob just laughs, "Oh grow up." he says.

"Anyway, since we're here we might as well look around." Rainbow says, looking around herself. Instantly her eyes land on something near the back of the store and she shoots over there.

"Aaaand she's gone." Bob says, looking over a shelf to look for Rainbow.

Randy chuckles, "She was like this in _Earthbound_." he says.

"I can see that," Bob says, "But I'm telling you something, if she sees something she likes here, I'll make her buy it or buy it for her myself! She's not going to wait until Christmas to get a pencil or paint or whatever!"

Randy laughs and shakes his head, "Hey, I'm gonna look around myself, wanna come?" he asks. Bob shrugs, "Sure."

The two start to walk around the store, watching Rainbow dart from wall to wall in amusement, before Randy stops and picks something up, "Hey Bob, look at this." he says.

Bob walks over to him and looks at what Randy's holding, "What's that? It looks like one of those white-out pens."

"It's a paint pen. You use it when you have different color paper, or you want to add shine, or highlights, I usually use them for stars." Randy explains.

Now, Randy isn't the _most_ artistic person in the world, (compared to Rainbow at least) he's more into music, but he does like to draw or paint every once and a while, and so Rainbow told him about the different types of art supplies.

Bob chuckles and shakes his head, "Oh yeah, I forgot you were into stars." he says.

Randy's always loved stars. He star gazes every chance he gets, the desktop picture on his laptop is a picture of the badlands with a starry sky, and the background on his phone is a moving picture of a starry night. He's also the one who got Rainbow that book of constellations.

At that moment, Rainbow walks up to them, holding a small box, "Hey guys, ooh! You gonna buy that Randy?" she asks, looking at the paint pen Randy's holding.

"I think so. What do you have there?" He asks, looking at the box in Rainbow's hand.

"Hm? Oh, it's a box of woodless colored pencils, I've been wanting some of these for a while." She says, showing them the box.

"Good! I'll buy them for you!" Bob says, walking forward.

"Oh you don't have-"

"No, I'm buying them for you, you're not gonna wait till Christmas for pencils!" Bob says, taking the box from her. Randy's standing off to the side, trying desperately not to laugh, while Rainbow looks at Bob with a raised eyebrow, "Okay then." She says, "Thanks."

* * *

After Randy and Rainbow get their things, the three of them leave the store, "Do we wanna go anywhere else?" Rainbow asks, pulling her map out.

"Not while Cherry's here!" Bob says, "Let's get outta here!"

"Wait, there's one more thing I want to get, but I can get it on my own, you two can wait by the truck if you want to." Rainbow says.

"Are you sure Rainbow?" Randy asks, concerned.

"Yeah, we can come with you." Bob says.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine, I'll see you two in a minute." and with that, Rainbow turns and walks away. Bob and Randy look at each other before they start toward the exit, "I don't like that we left her," Randy says, looking over his shoulder.

"Randy, you gotta relax, Rainbow's not a baby, even is she is kinda small; the worst thing that can happen is Cherry'll find her and interrogate her about me or something." Bob says with a slight chuckle.

"Alright." Randy says.

The two make it outside, but instead of going to the truck, they wait by the entrance. After a few minutes, Rainbow walks back outside and when Bob sees the bag she's holding, he bursts out laughing " _That's_ what you wanted? If we'd have known that we would've gone with you!"

Randy looks confused until he looks at Rainbow's hand and sees the bag, then he starts laughing. Rainbow just puffs out her cheeks and frowns at them, "Hey, it's a crime to go to the mall and not buy a mall cookie!" she says.

"It's just that it sounded like you had to get something important, but all you wanted was a cookie!" Bob says, still laughing.

" _Three_ " Rainbow corrects, "I got sugar, chocolate chip and peanut butter." she says, trying to sound haughty, before she starts toward Bob's truck. Bob and Randy look at each other, "God, she's the cutest damn kid." Bob says.

"She sure is." Randy says, smiling.

 **AN: I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, I wanted a really relaxing chapter after what happened last chapter.**


	7. Black Haired Blue Eyed Devil

The next day, Ponyboy is walking across the courtyard, when Rainbow suddenly runs up to him. "Ponyboy! Ponyboy wait!"

Ponyboy stops and turns to her, "Hey Rainbow," he says, "What's up?"

"Nothing much...Uh, listen Ponyboy, I'm sorry about the dance," she says, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, "If it seems like I ditched you, I assure you I didn't mean for it to seem like it, I _did_ want to dance with you...it's just, well, you know how Jay can be." she says.

Ponyboy nods, and thinks back to Jay's warning, "Yup, I know very well."

"Again, I'm really sorry. I tried looking for you...But then I realized you left."

Ponyboy feels a lot better knowing that Rainbow _had_ cared where he went, and that she had looked for him.

"Don't worry about it." Pony says with a smile.

Rainbow smiles back at him, "Well, I'll see you later. I gotta go do some stuff for class." she says.

"Alright, see you later."

After Ponyboy and Rainbow split paths, Ponyboy heads back in the direction of the boy's dormitories. When he gets there, he's about to open the door, when he suddenly hears:

"HEEEY CURTIS!"

Ponyboy jumps, just before someone barrels into him and puts him in a headlock, rubbing their knuckles back and forth on his head furiously.

"Wai-...Curly?! Curly Shepard?!" Ponyboy asks in disbelief.

Curly grins and let's Ponyboy go, "Yep." he says.

Pony looks at him in shock, "Wha-...What're you doing here?" he asks, trying not to sound rude.

"Long story," Curly says, crossing his arms and leaning up against the wall, "Dallas told Tim about how this place gives certain kids 'second chances', and because Tim was gettin' a little bored without Dallas around, he decided, 'why not'?" Curly says, before laughing.

"Wait, _Tim's_ here?" Ponyboy asks, keeping the panic out of his voice, but it isn't because of Tim.

"Yup, Angela's here too."

* * *

That following Friday, Ponyboy and Johnny both meet up by the library for a study session, due to the fact that they both have tests coming up, Ponyboy in History, and Johnny in Science.

"Hey Johnny." Pony says as Johnny walks up to him.

"Hi Ponyboy, how are you?" Johnny asks.

"I'm alright. Ready to study?"

"I guess so." Johnny says with a slight sigh.

Ponyboy turns and pushes open the door to the library and is in awe once again: The library is made of dark wood walls, with high stained glass windows, a dark red carpet and ivory marble floor, it also has a high ceiling, and huge bookshelves just filled to the brim with books, there are also computer desks, and tables.

Ponyboy and Johnny find the nearest table and sit down, "What do you have to study?" Ponyboy asks, getting his History book from his bag.

Johnny furrows his eyebrows slightly, "Protons, Neutrons, and Electrons." he says, getting his notebook from his bag.

"Oh, those aren't so bad." Pony says.

"Maybe, but they're boring, you have to admit." Johnny says, sitting down, "I wish I was studying History."

Ponyboy just chuckles and starts to read his History book.

As the two study, Ponyboy suddenly hears the library door open again, but he doesn't think anything of it...until he hears high heels walking in his direction, rather quickly.

"Ponyboy?"

Ponyboy feels his heart stop, ' _It can't be_.' he thinks. He slowly looks up and comes face to face with dark blue eyes.

It's Angela.

Her dark red lips morph into a smile before she walks closer, leans over the table and stretches her arms around Ponyboy's neck, like a very odd hug, "Hey there Pony Sugar-baby." She purrs seductively, "Didja miss me?"

Ponyboy's face turns an ugly, blotchy red. He had completely forgotten about Angela's weird nicknames for him, "Uh...yeah, sure" He says, while thinking, ' _No, not at all_.'

Johnny's watching all this from the side, he looks around and is relieved to see that they're the only ones in the library, because Angela said Ponyboy's nickname none-too-quietly.

"Uh, Angela, I'd love to catch up, but I have a History test in a couple of days and I have to study." Pony says, scooting out of Angela's hold on him.

"Aw c'mon," Angela sort of pouts, pushing her chest forward so her already over exposed breasts were even more noticeable, "Can't you do this later? You did say it was in a couple of days."

"I just want to get this done early, so I won't have to deal with it later." Ponyboy says, doing everything in his power to keep from looking down Angela's cleavage, which isn't easy because she practically shoved her chest in his face.

"But wouldn't it be fun to go on another date?" Angela asks seductively, "We had fun the last time you asked me out remember?"

"You asked _me_ out," Ponyboy corrects her, "And I don't really want to go on another date. You're nice and everything," that's a lie, "But I'm just not ready to start dating yet."

Ponyboy and Angela had gone on a date a few weeks before Ponyboy moved to Crimson Arts. Ponyboy just wanted to go on a simple movie date, but Angela couldn't keep her hands off of him throughout the entire movie.

Angela leans closer to him, "I can be a bad girl if you want me to." she breathes in his ear.

Johnny decides he's had enough of this, "Hey Pony, I'm gonna look for another book, I'll be right back." He says, getting up and walking away.

Johnny never told anyone this, but he doesn't really like Angela. He likes Tim and Curly okay, but Angela he just can't stand. Not only is she very mean and tough as nails, but she throws herself at pretty much any guy, and right now it's Ponyboy.

He groans quietly before he turns to try to look for another book, however, he runs right into another girl who is in the same section and knocks her books from her hands, "Hey!" she exclaims, going to pick up her books.

"Oops! I'm so sorry!" Johnny says, kneeling down to help the girl pick up her books.

"It's alright, don't worry about it." The girl says as Johnny hands her one of her books.

When they both stand up, Johnny is able to get a view of what the girl looks like, he feels himself blush lightly, she's really pretty: She has dark tan skin, dark brown hair that's tied into two pigtails, and beautiful dark blue, slightly turned up eyes, she's also wearing a pair of square shaped glasses with thick black frames.

"Uh...What's your name?" Johnny asks her.

The girl adjusts her glasses, and kind of dusts off her sweater, "Beatrice." She says, "But everyone calls me Straight A."

"It's nice to meet you...uh, Straight A. I'm Johnny Cade."

"It's nice to meet you too Johnny." Straight A says, combing a piece of hair behind her ear, "Uh, did you need help finding anything, I'm the library helper, so I can help you."

"No, I know what I...Actually, yes, I do need help with something." He says, hatching a quick plan. He points in Pony and Angela's direction, "That girl over there is bothering us, is there anything we can do?"

Straight A looks at Angela, "Yeah, I can tell Ms. Wormwood and she can ask her to leave." she says.

Straight A leads Johnny to the front of the library, toward the marble top desk of the librarian.

"Excuse me, Ms. Wormwood?" Straight A asks as they reach her desk.

"Yes Beatrice, what is it?" Ms. Wormwood asks.

"Um, that girl over there is bothering another student." Straight A says, pointing in Angela's direction.

Ms. Wormwood closes the book she was checking in and looks over at Angela, "Alright, thank you for telling me Beatrice." she says, standing up from her chair.

Ms. Wormwood walks over to where Ponyboy and Angela are, "Excuse me." she says causing Ponyboy and Angela to look at her, Angela with annoyance, and Pony with relief.

"What?" Angela snaps.

"I'm sorry, dear, but the library is not a place for making dates. You're both welcome to stay if you're wanting to study, but otherwise I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Ponyboy answers quickly, "Yes ma'am, I do have to study, I have a history test coming up."

Ms. Wormwood directs her attention to Angela, "Are you studying also? I see that you don't have any study materials with you."

Angela looks irritated and angrily tells Ms. Wormwood, "I just came in to say hi to Ponyboy, he's an old friend of mine." Then she tosses her hair, and marches out of the library.

Ponyboy looks at Ms. Wormwood, "Thank you." he half whispers in relief.

"You're welcome dear." Ms. Wormwood says, walking back to her desk.

"Thanks Straight A." Johnny says, smiling at her.

"No problem Johnny." Straight A says, walking back to the section she was in.

"Who was that?" Pony asks as Johnny sits back down.

"Her name is Beatrice, but everyone calls her Straight A, she's the library helper, and she told the librarian about Angela." Johnny explains.

* * *

A little while later, during dinner, Ponyboy is sitting with Cameron, and tells him about Angela.

"Yeesh," Cameron says, leaning back and crossing his arms, "She sounds like your version of Jay."

"She is!" Ponyboy exclaims, "And what's worse is that I'm worried about what she'll do when she finds out about Rainbow...and vise versa."

"Well I don't know about Angela, but if you explain the situation to Rainbow I think she'll understand." He glances over at Jay for a moment, "I think she'll understand _a lot_."

Ponyboy just nods and looks down at his food, when he suddenly hears,

"Hey there, Pony baby."

"Hi Angela." Ponyboy says, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

Angela plops down in the seat next to him and presses herself against him.

"Glad to see you're away from your books." She says, " _Now_ we can catch up."

"Great." Ponyboy says, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

Cameron's eyes are wide as he looks between Ponyboy and Angela, ' _My god_ ,' he thinks, ' _I think she's worse than Jay_!'

Across the dining hall, Rainbow's walking in the direction of the buffet, when she looks over and suddenly stops dead in her tracks. ' _Who's that_?' she thinks, looking at the girl who's plastered against Ponyboy.

Rainbow stares at the girl for a moment, she's really pretty: She has long black hair, tan skin, and very dark blue eyes, not to mention she's wearing clothes that don't leave a lot to the imagination.

She suddenly has this odd feeling and continues toward the buffet, ' _I haven't seen her around before_ , _I wonder if she's new_.'

After Rainbow gets her dinner, she walks over and sits down with Cathy, Sage and Jamie.

"Hey Rainbow." Sage says happily.

"Hi." Rainbow replies, not sounding happy at all.

"Is something wrong Rainbow?" Cathy asks.

Rainbow opens her mouth to tell them about Angela, but she decides against it, "It...It's nothing, I'll tell you about it later."

* * *

A little after dinner, Rainbow is walking out of the dining hall, when she sees Ponyboy, he looks over and sees her also, then he grins.

"Hey Rainbow." he says.

"Hey Ponyboy, how're you?" she asks.

"I'm alright, I went to the library earlier and got some studying done for the History test that's coming up." he explains.

"History test? What teacher do you have?" Rainbow asks.

"Mr. Hawley, what about you?"

"I have Ms. Cozart, we already had a test last week." she says, "Hey, are you in advanced or regular history?"

"I'm in regular, I didn't take any advanced courses this year cause I'm new, but I'll probably switch to advanced next year."

The two continue to talk about their classes as they start to make their way back to the dormitories, "I'm also in advanced English, that's how I met Randy and Marcia, we have the same class." Rainbow explains.

"Oh cool! Is it hard?"

"A bit, but I really like English, so it isn't that bad." she says.

"Nice." Ponyboy says with a smile.

The two eventually make it to where the path to the dormitories splits apart, "I'll see you later Ponyboy." Rainbow says.

"Alright, see you tomorrow."

Rainbow waves at Ponyboy before she makes her way to the girls' dormitories, when she gets to the entrance, she's about to open the door, when there's a voice from behind her, "Care to explain to me who the hell you are?"

Rainbow jumps slightly and turns around only to come face to face with a pissed off Angela Shepard.

Rainbow just blinks, "Excuse me?" she asks.

"You heard me." Angela snaps, taking a step closer to Rainbow, "Who are you and why were you talking to Ponyboy?" she asks.

"I have Art class with him and we're friends." Rainbow explains, "There's nothing else to it."

"Nothing else to it my ass!" Angela exclaims, "Ponyboy didn't look that happy when _I_ talked to him!"

Rainbow kind of tilts her head, "I don't even know who you are." she says.

"The name's Angela, Angela Shepard, and you better stay away from Ponyboy." Angela says.

"What?" Rainbow asks.

"Are ya deaf?! I said you better stay away from Ponyboy! He's mine ya bitch! If you go near him again–!" Angela doesn't finish her sentence, she just gives Rainbow an 'I'll beat the crap out of you' look before turning on her heels and going inside the girls dorms.

Rainbow stands there in semi-shock for a minute before she hears Jamie's voice, "Who was that slut?"

Rainbow turns around and sees Jamie, Sage and Cathy walking up to her, "She said her name was Angela Shepard. I think she's new."

"She must have steel guts, I've never seen a new girl act like _that_ before." Sage says.

"...Hey, can I talk to you guys for a minute?" Rainbow asks suddenly.

"Of course!" Sage says.

"Well, not here! Let's go up to my room, I don't want anyone else to hear me." Rainbow says, looking around.

The four of them go inside and quickly walk up to Rainbow's room, once there, Sage and Jamie sit on Sage's bed, while Cathy and Rainbow sit on Rainbow's bed.

"What did you want to tell us Rainbow?" Cathy asks.

"It's about Angela," Rainbow says, nodding to the door, "I saw her in the dining hall a little earlier."

" _That's_ what was bothering you!" Sage says, "What was she doing?"

"She..." Rainbow's face turns a dark pink, "She was hanging all over Ponyboy."

Cathy, Sage and Jamie all look at each other and say, " _OOOH!"_

"Yeah I can see why that would piss you off," Jamie says, "If I saw someone hanging all over the guy I liked, I'd be pretty mad too, but I personally think you have a much better chance than she does."

Rainbow looks at her, "You do?"

"Of course!"

"Rainbow," Cathy says, "I don't know if you've noticed, but Ponyboy is head over heels for you."

Rainbow blinks, then blushes, "He is? How do you know?"

"You didn't see him when we went to _Digs_ , he wouldn't look when Jay threw himself at you, he blushed when you asked what his favorite class was, and when Jay asked if he had a girlfriend, he said "I haven't really found anyone I like yet" and his eyes darted over to you instantly!"

Rainbow blushes heavily, then smiles.

"...Not to mention you're ten times prettier than her." Cathy says.

"Thank you." Rainbow says, blushing still.

* * *

A little while later, after Jamie and Cathy leave, Sage starts to mess around on her phone and Rainbow lies down on her stomach, her face half buried in her pillow.

' _He likes me_ , _Ponyboy likes me_!' she thinks, ' _Okay_ , _that's it_! _I have to do something_! _I need to show him I like him, so I can get Jay off my back, and get Angela away from Ponyboy...But how_?'

 **AN: There's two of them!**


	8. Homecoming

**AN: I'm back! Sorry for not uploading for so long, I was working on other projects!**

The following week, Ponyboy starts to notice that there are posters, balloons, and fliers being put up all over the school, at first he was confused, but then he realized, it's the week before Homecoming.

"Hey Rainbow," Ponyboy says during art class, "What's Homecoming like here?"

"Um, I don't know, this is my first year here, but according to Bob and Randy it's really eventful, and exciting. They also have a large pep-rally every year."

"Do you have an idea of what the pep-rallies are like?"

"Umm, no, but according to Mrs. Lan, the gymnastics trainer, we're going to be putting on a performance, that's all I can say for right now."

"Okay."

A while later as the two leave art class, Ponyboy looks over and sees a poster, with 'Bob and Cherry for Homecoming King and Queen!' written on it along with a picture of Bob and Cherry.

Rainbow notices that Ponyboy is looking at something and follows his gaze, she lets out a slight groan when she sees the poster, "Bob and Cherry are back together I see." she says.

"Back together?" Ponyboy asks.

"They had a big fight at the dance," Rainbow explains, "and when Bob, Randy and I went to the mall, Bob avoided her at all costs when he saw she was there also."

"Oh, they're _that_ kind of couple eh?" Ponyboy asks.

Rainbow nods, "Yup."

"I hate couples like that, who only date each other because they benefit each other's image, when you date someone, it should be because you like them!"

Rainbow turns to him, "Oh really?"

"Yeah."

"Well...is there anyone _you_ like?" Rainbow asks.

Ponyboy turns red to the hilt, and Rainbow realizes what she said and she blushes also, ' _What the hell was that Rainbow_?' she thinks, clutching her books to her chest and looking down, while Ponyboy looks everywhere except at Rainbow.

"Uhm...well, I'll see you later Pony, bye!"

"Yeah, okay, bye!"

And with that, the two bolt in opposite directions down the hallway.

* * *

After a few days, it's time for homecoming, and needless to say, the days leading up to it were hectic. Everyone was either talking about the game, pep-rally, or the after-party. They were talking about outfits they got for the homecoming after-party, who they were going with, who they weren't going with, and so on.

Excitement was in the air not only from the large pep-rally, but from winning the homecoming game as well. And now, it's finally time for the homecoming after-party.

Rainbow is in her dorm room with Cathy, Jamie and Sage, getting ready for the party, "Are you sure about this outfit guys?" Rainbow asks, looking at herself in the full body mirror, "I think this shows a bit much."

The girls had gone on a shopping spree the day prior to homecoming and got new outfits, but Rainbow is starting to get cold feet about wearing her new outfit.

"Rainbow you're fine." Jamie says, looking over at her, "Yes it shows a bit, but it's not slutty."

"Jamie's right." Cathy says, "You're a petite girl, if you were bigger I don't think it would look as good, but I kid you not, you look like a living doll."

"Not to mention," Jamie cuts in, "considering the fact that that other chick is in the picture, it's a good idea to go all out."

"Yeah, Rainbow, I personally think you should make a move soon, or Pony'll think you're not into him." Sage says.

Rainbow blushes, "I plan to." She says.

* * *

Meanwhile, Randy and his friends (minus Bob) are headed down to the gym, all of them dressed in nice clothes.

"So are you guys going to find dates or not?" Randy asks.

"I'll look to see if Natalie's there, if not I guess I'll go alone." Tyler says.

"I'm gonna try to find someone, and maybe something else too." Anthony says with a grin, wiggling his eyebrows.

Randy rolls his eyes, "Marcia says that's she'll meet me there. What about you David?"

"I think I'll just-"

David suddenly stops, because his eyes land on a pretty girl with long blonde hair and china blue eyes, and when she sees David, she stops also and gets a little flustered.

"Hello David." she says, with no emotion in her voice.

"Hi Sandy." David says stiffly.

Sandy is David's ex-girlfriend, at first they had gotten together just because David's on the football team and Sandy's a cheerleader, but after a few dates, they started to hit it off great; however, a few months into their relationship, Sandy...

Came out.

At that moment, another girl with bobbed dirty blonde hair and brown eyes walks up behind Sandy and kind of gives David the stink eye, "What's going on here?" she asks Sandy.

"It's nothing Sylvia, let's just go inside." Sandy says, wanting to avoid a scene. She grabs Sylvia's hand and leads her inside.

David stares after Sandy and Sylvia, "Must be her new girl toy." he says coldly. "C'mon, let's head inside."

David never told anyone this, but he had started to develop genuine feelings for Sandy, and it really crushed him when she came out. But, of course, he'd never tell _anyone_ that.

* * *

Ponyboy takes a sip of punch as he looks around the gym, which had been completely decorated in the school colors, trying to see if he can find Rainbow.

' _Last time was a fiasco, maybe this time will be better,_ ' he thinks, remembering the dance.

He looks around the gym some more, keeping a sharp eye out for both Rainbow and Angela. Ponyboy's been doing everything in his power to keep away from Angela, because he knows if she sees him, she'll pester him and won't leave.

From the corner of his eye, he sees another group of people walk into the gym, he looks over and sees that it's Cathy, Jamie, Sage, and two guys he doesn't know, one of them is pretty big with thick brown hair and brown eyes, and the other one has gold eyes and blonde hair that falls just above his shoulders.

He frowns slightly as he realizes something, ' _Where's Rainbow_?" he thinks. He looks around the gym, but he can't see her, ' _I wonder where_ -'

"Hi Ponyboy."

Pony jumps and turns around with a smile, "Hi-" that's all Ponyboy can get out of his mouth, "...you look pretty."

Rainbow's wearing an orange and blue striped skirt with a silky blue blouse, and she has on blue kitten heels. Her hair is tied up in a ponytail with a long blue ribbon, she isn't wearing much make-up, except for some lip gloss and eye shadow, and the only jewelery she has on are pearl stud earrings.

Ponyboy suddenly feels under dressed in his black muscle shirt and blue jeans.

Rainbow blushes at his complement, "Thanks, you look good too."

Ponyboy feels his ears go hot, but he just grins and shrugs "I just threw something on."

Rainbow giggles a little bit before reaching over and getting a cup of punch, "How's the punch?" Rainbow asks.

"It's good, same as last time." Ponyboy says with another shrug. "Hey uh, Rainbow, who are those guys with Cathy and Sage?"

"Hm? Oh, that's Bryon Douglas, Cathy's boyfriend," Rainbow says, pointing to the guy with brown hair, "And that's Tex McCormick, the one I told you about a while back?" Rainbow says, pointing to the blonde guy.

"Ah, okay." Pony says with a nod, "They nice guys?"

"Tex is, he and Sage are the ones who taught me how to ride a horse. And Bryon..." Rainbow kind of furrows her eyebrows, "Don't tell anyone I said this, but I really don't like him, he's kind of a jerk, he's not mean, but...I don't know, for some reason I just can't stand him...I know one reason is because he reads Hemingway."

"Oh god! I hate him already!" Ponyboy says, feigning disgust.

Rainbow wrinkles her nose, "Tell me about it, I had to read _The Old Man and The Sea_ for English one time. God I swear I wanted to cry when I read that...and on top of that we had to take quizzes on each chapter...I flunked every one."

Ponyboy laughs, "I don't blame you!"

The two stand there, talking and drinking their punch, when suddenly, the lights dim, and the music stops. They both look up and around the gym until a spotlight shines down on the stage that had been placed in the gym earlier that day.

A moment later, a woman walks out to the end of the stage, the woman has very curly ginger hair, and blue eyes, she's wearing what looks like a pantsuit.

"Good evening everyone," the woman says into a microphone.

There are a few responses, but most of the kids keep minding their own business.

Ponyboy sees the woman kind of roll her eyes before she says, more loudly and forcefully, " _Good evening everyone_!"

Now there's a chorus of, "Good evening Ms. Hinton!"

"Thank you. Now, as you all know, we won the homecoming game," cheers are heard throughout the gym. "Yes, yes, well done football team, another great victory. Now, before we officially start the after-party, it's time to crown the Homecoming Court!"

On the other side of the gym, Randy and Marcia applaud with the other students as Ms. Hinton announces the duke, duchess, prince, and princess of the homecoming court.

"And finally," Ms. Hinton says, "it's time to announce the homecoming king and queen!"

Ms. Hinton looks back at the paper with the list of names, "Everyone," she says, "this years homecoming king and queen are...Bob Sheldon and Cherry Valance!"

The gym erupts in cheers as Bob and Cherry walk out on the stage, Bob in a suit, and Cherry in a gold dress that looks like it should be worn on the red carpet.

"Well that figures." Randy says with a roll of his eyes as Ms. Hinton puts the crown and tiara on Bob's and Cherry's heads.

Marcia turns and looks at Randy, "What was that?" she asks.

"Oh, nothing." Randy says quickly.

Marcia just nods and looks back up at Bob and Cherry "Well, I think I agree with your 'nothing'."

It's not that Randy and Marcia aren't happy for Bob and Cherry, they are, it's just that sometimes they wish Bob and Cherry would stop throwing their egos around.

After the homecoming court has been crowned, Ms. Hinton announces the official beginning of the party. The music starts back up and some of the lights turn back on.

Rainbow and Ponyboy watch people walk onto the dance floor and start to dance, then they stand there in a semi-awkward silence, listening to the music that's playing.

After a few minutes, the song that's playing ends, and a new song starts, and both Ponyboy and Rainbow perk up when they hear it. It's "Gold Forever" by _The Wanted_.

"I love this song!" Rainbow says excitedly.

"Me too!" Ponyboy says with a grin. Just then, an idea dawns on him, he looks over at Rainbow, "You know Rainbow," he says, causing Rainbow to look at him, "I...never did get that dance."

Rainbow knows what he's talking about instantly, she smiles and feels her face heat up slightly, "No, you didn't...so, would you like-"

"Yes." Ponyboy says, not letting Rainbow finish.

They smile at each other before they both head out to the dance floor, they take each others hands, Rainbow puts her hand on Ponyboy's shoulder, and Ponyboy wraps his arm around her waist.

They look at each other and blush as they dance, then they start to look around the gym because for some reason they suddenly find it difficult to look into each others eyes.

As they look around the gym, they see that Ponyboy's friends and brothers are watching them and smiling, as are Rainbow's friends and sisters.

"My friends and brothers are staring at us." Ponyboy says, watching Cameron grinning at him with two thumbs up.

"Yeah, my sisters and friends are watching us also." Rainbow says, seeing her girl friends smiling at her.

* * *

On another side of the gym, Jay is leaned up against a wall with his arms crossed, watching everyone dance, when he catches a glimpse of Ponyboy and Rainbow, he straightens up abruptly, ' _What the hell_?' he thinks. ' _Why is Rainbow dancing with that little brat_?'

He glares when Rainbow and Ponyboy look at each other and smile, ' _Okay, you piece of trash, if that's how you want to play, then that's fine by me_!'

On the other side of the gym, Angela is sitting on the bleachers in a red dress that any other school would dress-code five times over. When she looks over and sees Ponyboy and Rainbow, she stiffens, ' _What the fuck_!' she thinks angrily, ' _Why is Ponyboy dancing with that bitch_?'

She glares daggers at Rainbow, ' _I warned that bitch to stay away from Ponyboy_ , _and now I have to get my hands dirty_!'

* * *

A while later, the party sort of dies down, and Rainbow tells Ponyboy that she's ready to head back to her dorm, and he offers to walk her there.

"You don't have to walk me, Ponyboy," Rainbow says as the two leave the gym.

"It's alright," Ponyboy says, grinning. "I don't mind."

After a few minutes, the two stop in front of the girls' dormitories. "Thanks for walking me, you gonna head back to the party?" Rainbow asks.

"I don't think so, I'm probably gonna head back to my dorm too."

Rainbow looks at Ponyboy, it's dark out, except for a few lampposts, and the light outside the dorm entrance, ' _Good thing it's dark so he can't see me blushing_.' Rainbow thinks.

"Hey, uh, Ponyboy, before you go...there's something I wanted to tell you," Rainbow says, looking down slightly.

"Okay, what is it?"

Rainbow looks back at him, ' _Come on Rainbow_!' she urges herself, ' _He likes you_! _Do it already_!'

"Well," She takes in a huge breath, squeezes her eyes shut, and promptly presses her lips against Ponyboy's firmly.

Ponyboy stiffens and he feels his eyes widen, but then he slowly relaxes and leans into the kiss. He feels Rainbow wrap her arms around his neck and he wraps his arms around her waist.

The kiss lasts for a few seconds before they stop and look at each other, now they're both blushing, "Well, I-I guess I'll see you tomorrow Ponyboy." Rainbow says after a moment.

"Yeah...See you later."

"Bye."

"Bye."

After that, Rainbow turns and heads inside, and Ponyboy makes his way back to his dormitory.

When Rainbow gets to her room, she kicks her shoes off and lets her hair down before she walks over to her bed and falls on it with a dreamy sigh, she stares at her ceiling with a smile on her face, _'I did it. I kissed Ponyboy,_ ' she thinks.

When Ponyboy gets back to his dorm, he crawls onto his bed and lies on his stomach, resting his chin on his arms, ' _Rainbow kissed me,_ ' he thinks happily.

He lies there for a few minutes before he props himself up on his elbows. "Hey," he says, "I should ask her out on a date..."

 **AN: Yeah, I made S.E Hinton the Dean, thought it would be fun!**


	9. Digs Date

The following day, after breakfast, Ponyboy starts to look for Rainbow—he's decided that he's going to ask her to a lunch date at _Digs_.

After a while of looking, he finds her in the courtyard, sitting on the edge of the fountain, reading.

"Hey Rainbow," he says, causing her to look up.

She smiles, "Hi Ponyboy, how are you doing?"

"I'm good...hey, I wanted to ask you something." he says, sitting down next to her.

Rainbow places a bookmark in her book before she closes it and looks at him, "What is it?"

"Are you doing anything this afternoon?" he asks.

"Um, not to my knowledge, why?"

"Well, I was wondering if you would like to go to _Digs_ later...as a date." The minute he says the word 'date' he feels his face heat up.

Rainbow blushes also, but then she smiles, "I'd like that...when did you want to go?"

"I was thinking maybe a little after lunch, that way we don't have to compete with the lunch crowd."

Rainbow thinks about it for a moment, "That's smart. Alright, it's a date then!" she says happily, "Are we going to meet by the back entrance like usual?" she asks.

"Yeah."

"Great," Rainbow says, standing up, "I'll see you at one o'clock then."

"Where are you going?" Ponyboy asks, confused.

Rainbow looks at him like he just asked the dumbest question she's ever heard, "To freshen up, of course."

Ponyboy blinks and watches after her, ' _Freshen up_?' he thinks.

* * *

A little while later, a bit after lunch, Ponyboy is waiting by the back entrance, waiting for Rainbow. A little earlier he had asked for Darry's permission to go to _Digs_ and he, to Ponyboy's relief, said yes.

"Hi Ponyboy."

Ponyboy grins and turns around and faces Rainbow (who is wearing a completely different outfit than earlier). "Hey Rainbow, you ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's go."

As the two make their way to _Digs_ , Ponyboy suddenly feels Rainbow's hand slip into his, he looks over at her, she looks back and smiles at him, he smiles back before looking back ahead.

After they arrive at _Digs_ , they go inside and sit at a table in the back while they decide what they want to order.

"What do you want to get Pony?" Rainbow asks.

"Umm...I think I'll get two barbecue sandwiches. What about you?"

"I'm gonna get a chicken strip basket, that's what I usually order when I come here alone," Rainbow says.

"Alright," Ponyboy says, standing up, "I'll go order, do you want Sierra Mist like last time?"

Rainbow is silently happy that Ponyboy remembered that she likes Sierra Mist, "Yes please."

After Ponyboy goes up and orders their food, he comes back and sits down. The two start up a conversation, and Ponyboy suddenly says, "Hey, Rainbow, there's someone I have to tell you about."

"Huh?" Rainbow asks, suddenly nervous, "W-who?"

"Well, there's this girl named Angela Shepard," Ponyboy says, and Rainbow remembers her confrontation with said girl, "and...there's no other way to say this, she's like Jay, she won't leave me alone."

"Ooh, I see," Rainbow says, nodding. "Yeah, I know the feeling, you want them to leave you alone, but you don't want to be rude and say, 'look, I'm flattered that you like me, but...can you please drop dead'?"

They both start laughing, "Yeah, when I went on my first date with Jay, it was because it was something to do." Rainbow says.

"Exactly, that's what happened to me and Angela, I went on a date with her, because it was something to do."

Rainbow shakes her head, "We're in trouble," she says, "but hey, if we stay together, maybe they'll finally get the message...not likely, but it's a possibility."

Ponyboy starts to laugh.

At that moment, their number is called and Ponyboy stands up, "I'll go get our food."

"Wait, I'll go with you, we ordered drinks." Rainbow says, standing up also.

"Alright."

* * *

After Ponyboy and Rainbow get their food, they sit there and eat while making small talk, and throwing in the occasional flirt. When they finish their food, they talk for a little while longer until Rainbow suddenly asks, "Hey, I'm gonna go order a milkshake, you want one?"

"Yeah, alright." Ponyboy says, smiling.

She stands up, "What flavor do you want?"

"Chocolate."

"Alright."

When Rainbow goes up to order, she first thinks of ordering two small milkshakes, but then she gets an idea. She grins a little mischievously as she orders.

After Rainbow orders, she walks back over to Ponyboy and sits down, setting the milkshake down in the center of the table.

"Where's mine?" Ponyboy asks.

"Right there." Rainbow says, pointing to the milkshake.

"Well, where's yours?"

"Right there!" Rainbow says, "Here's your straw." she says, handing him a straw and pointing to the milkshake, a big grin on her face.

It takes him a moment, but Ponyboy finally processes what Rainbow is trying to say and he blushes—she wants to share a milkshake with him. "Oh...okay."

He takes off the the wrapper, watching Rainbow do the same, before they both put their straws in the milkshake and begin to drink. They're practically nose to nose, and they can feel the heat coming off of each others faces.

After a little while, the two drink their milkshake until all that is left is the cherry, which Rainbow lets Ponyboy have.

"That was good." Ponyboy says after a minute.

"Yeah." Rainbow says.

After that there's an awkward silence, then Rainbow looks at Ponyboy and gives him a cute, mischievous grin.

Ponyboy laughs and shakes his head, ' _Note to self: never underestimate Rainbow_.'

* * *

After a little while, Ponyboy and Rainbow decide that it's about time for them to leave, they throw their trash away and start to head in the direction of the door, holding hands.

When they're about to get to the door, however, they're suddenly stopped by two other kids, who are heading in the opposite direction, these kids are holding hands also, and Rainbow is surprised to see who it is.

"Sage?"

"Ponyboy?"

"Tex?"

"Rainbow?"

All four teens stand there in the middle of the room, staring at each other in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" Rainbow asks.

"What're _you_ doing here?" Sage asks.

"We're on a date." Ponyboy says.

"So are we." Tex says.

"Wait! Are you guys dating?" Rainbow exclaims, looking between Tex and Sage.

"Yeah, this is our third date." Tex says, grinning widely, showing his slightly chipped tooth.

"Third?" Rainbow exclaims, "When were the first two?"

"Well, our first official date was after the first dance, then we went on another date not long before homecoming." Sage explains.

"I see." Rainbow says, "Well, um...hope you guys have a good time, we were just leaving."

"Alright, see you later."

"Bye."

After Ponyboy and Rainbow leave _Digs_ , Rainbow turns to Ponyboy, "I don't know why I was so surprised, I knew Sage liked Tex, so I should have known they would start dating. I guess I'm just surprised because we're so close and she didn't tell me. But then again, maybe Sage was just as surprised that you and I were on a date."

"Well, it's a little different, this is only our first date, and Sage and Tex are 'dating'." Ponyboy says.

Rainbow looks over at him with another mischievously cute grin, "Oh, so you're saying we 'aren't' dating?" she asks.

Ponyboy looks at her, his eyes going wide, and he begins to mumble incoherently. After a moment, he finally manages to say, "Yeah! Yeah, I-I'd love to know that we're d-dating!"

"Ponyboy! Pony, I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Rainbow says, slight laughter in her voice.

Ponyboy and Rainbow continue their way back to Crimson Arts, talking and holding hands, both of them secretly thrilled that they are finally together.

* * *

When Ponyboy and Rainbow get back to Crimson Arts, they walk across the courtyard, heading to the path that leads to the dormitories.

As they approach, they're so wrapped up in their conversation that they don't notice the two figures that are watching them.

Jay glares from the balcony of the dining hall, Angela does the same a few feet away. They both watch as Ponyboy and Rainbow make their way back to the dormitories.

"Stupid blonde bitch." Angela says, getting Jay's attention.

"Hey, watch it! That's my girl you're talking about!" Jay snaps.

Angela glares at him, "Oh really, then why is my boy hanging around 'your' girl instead of me?"

"I don't know. Why is 'your' boy hanging around _my_ girl?" Jay counters. "I'm telling you, before that piece of trash came along things between me and her were great!"

"Well, before the other chick came along, everything was fine between me and Ponyboy...wait a minute." Angela says suddenly.

"What?" Jay asks.

"My boy doesn't like me because of your girl, and your girl doesn't like you because of my boy." Angela explains.

"Yeah...what are you getting at?"

"I'm saying, that we should come up with a plan to break those two up, so we can all get back together." Angela says, a dangerous grin creeping up on her features. "So, do we have a deal?" she asks, holding out her hand.

Jay looks at her, then he smiles and grabs her hand, "We sure do."

* * *

Later on, in the early evening, Rainbow is back in her room, reading her book, when the door opens and Sage walks in.

Rainbow sets her book down, "Hey Sage, how was your date?"

Sage blushes and sits down on her bed, "It was a lot of fun, how was yours?"

"Same." Rainbow says.

After that there's an awkward silence.

"Um... I'm sorry for not telling you about Tex and me." Sage says slowly after a moment, "It's just that...well, you remember that I told you Tex and Jamie were together a while back?"

Rainbow nods.

"Well, when you told us about Angela, Jamie said, 'If I saw someone hanging all over the guy I liked, I'd be pretty mad too.' Well, here I am, going out with her ex."

"Sage, that's not the same thing at all. He's not the guy she likes anymore, _she_ broke up with _him_."

"I just wish I could be sure that it wouldn't upset her in any way."

"Sage, why don't you just ask her?"

Sage thinks about it for a moment. "That's a great idea, Rainbow! Better yet, you could ask her for me!"

"NO!"

 **AN: I've started to post character designs and art on Deviantart. I'm still SunsetRoseWriter there. 3**


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